Dark Destiny
by Lady Dawson
Summary: No one can ever escape the darkness, the lure to evil . . . and Wyatt and Chris Halliwell were no exception. The two rulers of darkness joined the fight for evil. But by the love of a young witch, one of them may be saved from it.
1. How it All Began

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: How it All Began

Sylvia Chandler had met the Halliwell brothers the first day of that she had moved next door to them, with her family. Her mother Cecilia was suffering from a divorce and her younger twin brothers Eric and James moved with them, though Eric was furious and angry about the move and even more so about the divorce, mostly because he worshiped their father. But neither Sylvia nor her mother had the heart to tell him that their father was the one who had destroyed the marriage, by cheating on Cecilia with another woman. 

But this is not the story of Sylvia's childhood and how her parents had split up. Nor is it the tale of how Sylvia Chandler became a teenager. This is the story of how she became a woman, a far greater challenge altogether. Especially in this tale, for she had to undergo challenges beyond her own expectations. And in order to do that, she would have to face dangerous trial, menacing enemies, and friends that she would never have expected. 

But most of all, she would have to save the man she had loved since the day she met him, when she was all of fourteen and he just a year older than she was. Chris Halliwell met her the day that she moved in next door to him and his heart was lost to her, something that would keep him on the path that he would one day forget about and cross over. 

But his brother Wyatt also saw her and found her captivating. By this time, he was much further gone than his brother and was determined to destroy the world that his family had fought so hard to create. The world would be better off under the command of one person and who better for it to be under than the twice-blessed son of the almighty Charmed Ones? And his brother was to be his second-in-command, naturally. 

However, if he was to be the Source of All Evil, then he would need a queen. And the moment that Wyatt Halliwell saw Sylvia, he knew that she possessed great power and that was enough to make her worthy to sit alongside the throne next to him. Besides, she was certainly pretty enough to become the queen of the world. 

But he would wait; he would bide his time until she was ready to come to him and when that happened, no one would ever dare challenge him. It wasn't until his brother's sixteenth birthday that he began to destroy their family and take over. 

Sylvia was best friends with Chris, though she knew her feelings had developed much deeper than mere friendship, though she never told him. She didn't want to ruin their friendship, so she kept her true feelings towards him a secret from him. Chris's family, however, and Sylvia's could see that the two were meant for each other. 

When the demons attacked and killed Chris's mother that day, Sylvia and Chris were out in the backyard, talking. "Mom's gonna freak out if we're not back in there soon," Chris remarked as Sylvia lay back on the grass, staring up at the sky. 

"You're not telling me that you actually want to go back in there and have her getting all teary-faced and complaining that her baby boy is all grown up?" Sylvia teased him. 

Chris grinned slightly and lay down next to her. "No, being out here definitely trumps that," he agreed as he slowly began to work his arm around her shoulder. Sylvia didn't seem to mind, however, and she laid her head onto his chest, her vivid blue eyes meeting his green ones. Chris reached out and brushed a piece of her blonde hair out of her face. 

"I don't know I would do if I didn't have you in my life," Chris told her softly and she smiled up at him. "You are . . . so amazing, Syl." She looked amused for a minute, but shook her head. 

"No, I'm not," she told him. "Compared to you and Wyatt, Chris, I'm very low on the rank of witches." She looked away as he frowned at her. "Come on, we both know that it's true. You can blow things up just by flicking your hand, Chris. All I can do is telepathy and precognition." 

"Syl, you are always underestimating yourself," Chris insisted. "You can attack demons without even lifting a finger with your telepathy. That's a rare and impressive power." She lifted her head to look at him. "If I were going to sneak into a demon's lair, then you are one witch that I'd take with me. You'd be able to tell me, without rousing suspicion, if there were more on the way." 

Sylvia considered this and looked at him. "I suppose so," she sighed as she lay back down. "I just wish that I had some kind of active power. I'd love to have telekinetic power. It's cool the way that you're able to use it." 

"Well, I've had my long enough that I can use it effectively," Chris said, grinning wildly. She smiled as she leaned back, staring up at the stars as they began to twinkle in the sky as day slowly started turning into night. "Don't worry about it, Syl, my Aunt Phoebe had premonitions first and it took the longest time for her powers to develop into an active power, but it happened." 

"Yeah, yeah." Sylvia rolled her eyes as she turned on her side to look at him. "Hey, Chris?" He looked towards her. "What's going on with Wyatt lately? I saw him downtown the other day and he orbed out. The thing is, his orbs were a bit darker than they're supposed to be. If I didn't know any better, then I'd say that they were Darklighter orbs." 

Chris frowned, but said nothing and she detected something behind his green eyes. "What?" she asked. 

"Nothing, he's just going through some stuff right now," Chris said simply and she detected the lie of his words. "You know, late rebellion and all. It's a good thing we soundproofed the walls, otherwise we'd all be at the mercy of blasting music to cover up the make-out sessions with him and whatever girl he's brought home this week." 

Sylvia stared at him. "Chris, what's going on?" she demanded. He blinked. "I know you as well as you know yourself, we both know that, and I know when you are lying. Spill it," she ordered. 

"It's nothing," Chris mumbled. "He's just got some plans that he's thinking about going through with and he wants me to help him with. I promise, nothing bad is going to happen." 

She wasn't sure whether she believe him or not, but she sighed and lay back down to stare up at the stars. "You ever look at the constellations?" she asked, glancing over at Chris. He was too busy watching her to pay much attention to what she was saying. "Chris, hello? Focus, please?" she requested and he chuckled. 

"Sorry," he told her. "It's just that . . . you're so beautiful." 

"Stop it," she said, shaking her head. 

"I'm serious," Chris protested, looking at her as she looked away, a blush rising to her cheeks at his attention. She shifted uncomfortably as he reached out and turned her chin towards him, forcing her to look at him. "I've always thought so, right when you first moved here. Remember that day? Your brothers almost killed me with that skateboard of theirs." 

"Just Eric," Sylvia replied with a wry smile. "James didn't." Chris chuckled and shook his head. 

"Syl . . . there's something that I've been wanting to tell you for awhile now," he began, but a blast from inside caused both of them to sit up straight. They heard Piper's yell as something crashed and Chris jumped to his feet, heading inside. 

"Chris!" Sylvia called as she hurried after him to find the entire household under attack. She shrieked as Chris grabbed her, pulling them both down as an energy ball came flying out of nowhere, nearly killing both of them. "We have got to get out of here!" 

But Chris didn't answer as he stared at the figure that was lying in front of him and he crawled to the prone body of his dead mother, taking her hand into his. "Mom . . ." His jaw tightened as he gripped her hand and Sylvia grasped his shoulders before looking up at their surroundings. 

Just as a demon came barrelling towards them, she pressed her fingertips to her temples, concentrating towards the demon. He howled, clutching his forehead as flames consumed him and he exploded. Letting out a soft gasp, Sylvia looked around. There were too many of them. 

"Chris, please!" Sylvia grabbed him and made him look at her. "There's too many of them, we have to get out!" 

"What's going on here?" Wyatt had arrived, his blue eyes narrowing with fury as he saw the scene in front of him. The demons all looked towards the new arrival as the twice-blessed witch glared at them. "No one messes with my family," he said threateningly. He raised his hands and a blinding light exploded from them and every demon in sight was vanquished. 

As Sylvia wrapped her arms around Chris as he held his dead mother, she felt him shaking underneath his touch. But she also sensed Wyatt's gaze on her, filled with desire and yearning, and shivered involuntarily. 

She had the feeling that they had come to a very sudden halt on their paths and were forced on another one that none of them would choose, if given the choice. But amongst them, one had forced them on this path because of his own ambitions and goals. And it was not one that would make their mother proud or pleased. 

--

The skies above them wept with sorrow as Piper Halliwell was buried along with her niece Prudence. Phoebe, Prudence's mother, was beside herself and beyond distraught. Nobody could talk to her, not even her husband Coop, who understood her more than anyone else. Sylvia watched it all, knowing they were heading towards something that none of them could understand. 

While the family was in the living room with friends of the family and people who had come to give their condolences, Sylvia walked upstairs to Chris's room to find him sitting on the bed, still in his suit, but his tie and jacket were tossed aimlessly on the floor. 

Sylvia didn't say a word, just picked them up and folded them carefully, placing them on the dresser. 

"They've got loads of food downstairs, are you hungry?" she asked him. Chris didn't say anything. "Yeah, me neither," she said, uncomfortable with the silence. He had barely eaten anything since Piper had died and hadn't even spoken to anybody. All he did was sit there and stare gloomily ahead. "Some of the food's from the restaurant, though, it's better hot than cold." Sylvia sighed as Chris remained silent. "Chris? Chris, please say something." 

Walking over to him, she bent down and placed her hands into his, squeezing them tightly. He blinked and looked down at her. "Don't lose yourself to this, Chris," she told him softly, her voice shaking. "I need you here." 

Chris swallowed at her words and silently slid down onto the floor, falling into her arms. "Why did this have to happen?" he whispered. "Why does everything have to happen to this family, Syl? Mom and the aunts are the all-powerful Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches of all time. But if this family is so powerful, then how come we can't save the people that we care about?" He was crying by the time that he said this. "Huh? What good are our powers if all it does is get the ones we love killed?" 

"Chris . . ." Sylvia didn't know what to say to him. She had never suffered the death of a loved one, but she could imagine the pain of losing a parent. She had lost her father, maybe not to death, but she had lost him and she could still remember being so angry, all the time, and the pain and fury. "We are meant to have these powers to protect people. Those who can't defend themselves against the forces of evil." 

"And we pay the price for our unselfishness," Chris said harshly. He yanked free from Sylvia's hold and blasted apart his desk, making Sylvia jump at the noise. Downstairs, people's conversations ceased as they heard the noise. 

"What is the point in fighting for the forces of good, if this is how it goes?" Chris demanded as Sylvia stood up, staring at her best friend. "If this is the way that it goes, if we can't save the people that we love, then what are we fighting for? We'll never have peace, not so long as the eternal battle between good and evil is going on." 

Sylvia said nothing as she reached for him, but he yanked free, and she dropped her hands to her side. "I hate this," he mumbled. "Syl . . . what am I supposed to do now? I don't know what to do. Mom was always the strong one in my life. I've always had something to do with her, always something planned with her or something. Now . . . tomorrow's an uncertainty." 

"Tomorrow always is," Sylvia told him. "But you're a survivor, Chris, and you can live through this. I have faith in you," she said softly. He couldn't even smile at her. "And I promise you that I will be right here next to you, no matter what happens." She reached up and stroked his cheek tenderly. "Chris, lean on me for a little while. Let me carry the burden." 

He hesitated, then nodded and she took him into her arms, pulling him on the bed and she held him, slipping into his mind. Chris tried to block her almost instantly, but she got under his guards and blotted out the memories of what had happened that day, filling them with good ones, of him and his family down at the beach, them building a sandcastle. Anything, really, so long as it kept him from thinking about his mother's death. 

It didn't take long for Chris to fall asleep in his arms. He was worn out, both mentally and physically. Sylvia held him tightly, frightened for him as she felt some darkness hover over them, close by and closing in on them. 


	2. Five Years Later

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Five Years Later . . .

It only took five years for the entire city to crumble and turn to ruin. No one dared go out into the streets now, for demons roamed everywhere, looking for new victims. Witches especially didn't dare venture out, because if they were caught, then Lord Wyatt would send them to the executioner's block if they didn't join him. Between him and his brother, Lord Christopher, all the surviving witches could do was pray that someone would one day be able to stop them.

Sylvia watched all this happen and felt pain at what had happened to her best friend and the love of her life, Chris, and his older brother. She couldn't believe what had happened to them, although Chris had lost his faith in their duty as witches when his mother died.

Wyatt spun out of control once Piper was gone and started gathering some followers. Demons joined his company, eager to follow behind the twice-blessed who was not going to destroy them, but rule them and lead them out of hiding to rule the world. He convinced Chris that fighting alongside with good hadn't done anything but cause grief to their family. Consumed by his grief and rage, Chris joined Wyatt, leaving Sylvia distraught and distressed over the loss of her best friend.

She had tried everything she knew to bring Chris back, but there wasn't anything to be done. He had turned his back on everything that Piper and the sisters had stood for. The sons of two of the most powerful forces of good had begun to fight for evil. Sylvia had never felt so lost, so alone as she had when Chris told her that he would never go back. "There's no point in fighting for good if this is how it goes," he told her. "I'm done with it and I'm going to help Wyatt. And I'm not going to stop searching until I can find a way to stop the people I love from dying."

Sylvia had prayed that he would finally see through his grief and come back to her, but it was not to be. The brothers launched a full-scale attack on innocents in the city, killing at least twenty and throwing the city into chaos. Now, five years later, there was nothing that could be done to stop them. Wyatt and Chris were in complete control.

The only thing that she had done to try and stop them was form a resistance against them, but they had discovered the hideout and killed most of the members. Sylvia, along with the remaining members were in hiding, along with her brothers. James was scared to death and stayed in his room most days while Eric shouted at her that this was all her fault that things were turning out the way that they were. The next morning, Sylvia went to her brother's room to find his things gone and a note saying he was leaving for New York, to go live with their father.

She could have told him that it wasn't going to do any good. Her father would probably join up with Wyatt first chance he got and it wasn't going to be long before they made their move to expand the empire. James stayed with Sylvia, mostly because he was too scared to leave her and because he knew that there was nowhere left to run to. Their mother Cecilia was dead and forgotten, the casualty of Wyatt's first attack.

They had found another hideaway, this was safe and secured by magic, but they were having trouble gathering more supporters. Ever since Wyatt's last attack on them, killing most of its members, no one was very willing to join up with the resistance, despite Sylvia's valid point that they might not survive his rule for long.

"Sylvia?" Looking around at her brother as he entered the room, Sylvia smiled at him as he sat down on her bed, leaning against her. She wrapped her arms around her, holding him close. At fifteen, James was a little too old to be held like this, but she didn't care. "What's going to happen to us?"

Shaking her head, Sylvia glanced towards the old broken down window, where the desolate city lay outside. If anyone other than a resistance member looked inside, then all they would see was an abandoned, run down house. Sylvia had created the spell herself.

"I don't know, baby bro," she admitted, stroking his light brown hair like their mother used to. James sighed as he leaned against her, comforted by it. Now that Eric was gone, he was the only family she had left and neither one of them was willing to give them up. "I'm not even sure if there's any hope for any of us surviving."

"Don't," James told her, looking up at her. She frowned as she looked at him. "Don't give up, Sylvia. Because if you give up, then we have to give up." He paused. "I know that you're still in love with Chris," he said softly. Sylvia said nothing; she couldn't deny it. "He loves you, too. If you could've seen the way that he looked at you the last time we saw him . . ."

"James, please," Sylvia told him, looking away. She didn't want to talk about this; it hurt too much.

Her brother saw this and shut his mouth from further comment. He stood up and looked at her. "I'm just saying that maybe you should remember the person he used to be," he told her. "There's still some spark of that person remaining underneath the surface, Sylvia. And if that's true, then maybe you can reach it and pull him back."

Sylvia looked up, astonished, but her brother was already gone and she stood up to close the door that he'd left opened. She sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead, then shook her head, grabbing her jacket off of the chair, pocketing some potions, and grabbing an athame.

"Time to go to work," she muttered as she climbed out the secret entrance that led to town.

* * *

The demons that had tracked her as she arrived in town chased her down the streets as Sylvia managed to free some of the prisoners that were being led away to face their extinction. She whirled around, her eyes narrowed in concentration towards one of the demons as they both came to a stop, wondering what she was doing.

Concentrating on one of the demons' minds, she let out a sigh of relief as he screamed, clutching his head as pain exploded from him just as he was vanquished. "Want to have another round?" she challenged the lone demon while he stared at the place where his companion had been. He barred his teeth at her as he conjured an energy ball.

"I know who you are, girlie," he snapped at her. "You're that little witch that has been giving our master so much grief. Well, I can't wait to find out what happens when he learns that I've gotten rid of his nuisance."

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Why is it that demons always find the need to gloat before they've actually won?" she wondered as she ducked under the energy ball. She pulled her athame out of her pocket and dived under another attack before she was feet in front of him. Lunging forward, she plunged the athame into his chest and his eyes widened with shock as he was consumed by the flames.

A few of the innocents that had been captured were staring at her, wide-eyed, and she smiled at them. "You should get out of here," she told them. "Get to a safe place, before they can find you again." But where would that be? she wondered as she started to walk down the streets. Certainly nowhere in San Francisco, not even in California.

"How'd you do that?" Sylvia glanced over her shoulder towards the kid who had spoken. He was staring at her in a mixture of confusion and amazement.

She didn't blame the confusion; mostly, witches were to be feared, because those who remained with good were in hiding and those who weren't had joined Wyatt and Chris. "It's what I do," she told him.

"But . . . but you're just a girl," he said, awe-struck. The girl next to him, probably his sister, jabbed him in the side and he made a face towards her before looking at Sylvia.

"If only that were true," she said with a sigh as she continued down the street to see if there were any more demons to be vanquished. Sometimes, she would've loved nothing more to be an ordinary, human girl who had no idea about magic or witches. Certainly it would make things better; this horrible, grim world would never have existed.

She would still be living with her mother and brothers on Prescott Street, next door to Chris and Wyatt. Piper would still be alive. Chris wouldn't have become this bleak, inhumane person that she could barely even recognise. And Wyatt would be a good person, with feeling. Even now, five years later in this living nightmare, she still loved Chris, with all her heart. She had lost her heart to him years ago and it still belonged to him. And Wyatt . . . he was like a brother to her, always had been.

Sylvia suddenly caught a sense of warning coming from her precognition power and flung herself sideways, landing on her feet a few inches from where the energy ball had landed. Turning around, she saw a young woman dressed in black leather, her cold dark eyes watching Sylvia carefully.

"Oh," Sylvia responded, rolling her eyes as she stood up. "It's you." The young woman was an assassin for Wyatt, from a coven of witches known only as the Phoenix. Her name was Bianca and she had been hired by Wyatt permanently to join his side, something that no Phoenix had done before. Mostly they just did what they were hired to do and then moved on to another employer. Most of Bianca's coven was just called upon when they were needed.

Of course, here they were needed a lot by Wyatt. He would stop at nothing to get rid of the resistance and capture Sylvia. She didn't know why he didn't just order Bianca to kill Sylvia herself, but she had the feeling that he was only doing it so he could kill her himself.

Either that or have Chris do it. Wyatt knew perfectly well that it would bring no greater pain than for Chris, her best friend, to be the one to kill her. The pain of that would probably kill her faster than whatever Chris would do to her would.

Bianca scowled at Sylvia's dismissal of her. "You know, Chandler, I would've thought that you would be smart enough not to walk the streets after dark," she commented. "Goes to show that you're not as clever as Lord Wyatt believes. Seeing as how you are probably the most wanted person," she added. "After his cousin Patty, that is. Seen her lately?"

"Nope," Sylvia said cheerfully. Patty was currently in Ireland, hiding from Wyatt while she was pregnant. After she gave birth to the baby, she was going to put him or her with a safe family where Wyatt couldn't find her. If Wyatt knew that his cousin had a child, then he would kidnap the baby so that he could raise him or her as evil. Not that Wyatt saw what they were doing as evil, just that they were beyond good and evil.

"But even you did, you wouldn't tell me, would you?" Bianca countered and Sylvia smiled innocently, giving her a shrug. "That's what I thought. I still don't understand why he sees you as such a threat. You don't even have any active powers to fight me with. All you can do is throw potions and stick me with your little athame."

Sylvia felt her smile slip and she tensed slightly; that was the thing about Bianca. She always knew _exactly_ where to strike. The fact that Sylvia had no active powers wasn't exactly a secret and Sylvia hated the fact that she couldn't fight back when demons attacked her. All she could do was attack their minds.

Which usually led them to being vanquished, but that didn't work with Bianca. She always reformed when Sylvia tried that.

"Oh, did I make you sad, little witch?" Bianca said mockingly as she walked closer to Sylvia, her footsteps echoing in the quiet streets. "Don't worry, I'll make it all better for you."

She conjured an energy ball and Sylvia stared back at her without fear, calm and collective. "You know, it's a shame that those brothers of yours are so pathetic," she commented. "Otherwise we could have used them. Don't worry, though, they're not worth enough to be let into Wyatt's circle."

Before Sylvia could spit on her—which she had half a mind to do—Bianca suddenly jerked and her eyes went wide as she looked at the witch, as though in surprise before she exploded, leaving nothing behind. Sylvia had no doubt she would reform somewhere else, but the only question was, what had happened? Who had blown her up?

Sylvia's question was answered almost instantly, as a figure began to walk towards him, his hands in his pockets in an almost familiar way. He wore black jeans and shirt, with a black hoodie over this, shielding his face. But as he walked closer, Sylvia had the feeling that she knew who was lying underneath that hood and her heart began to beat faster in her chest, as though she had just run a mile.

He came to a stop a few feet from here and stood there staring at her for a few seconds. "Sylvia?" he asked, his voice filled with surprise and shock. But it was a voice that set her heart singing.

"Chris?" she whispered.


	3. Lyla Summers

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: Lyla Summers

Chris reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing his handsome face to Sylvia, who stood motionless, staring at him. Neither one of them moved, spoke, or even breathed. Sylvia couldn't believe what was happening. She hadn't seen Chris in almost two years, not since she had found him wounded by some witches who would do anything to get rid of him and Wyatt. After she brought him to her house, she had cared for him and nursed him back to health.

She had come home one day to find him gone, with a note telling her that he was leaving, going back to his brother. Sylvia had never been so forlorn as she had felt then and barely went out of the house. James had understood her need for some alone time. It had taken her a week before she was finally able to go out and face the world again. But she had never forgotten the feeling of abandonment by her best friend.

"It _is_ you," he said finally. "Isn't it?" His face was pale and he looked at her and Sylvia stared into those green eyes of his that she had looked into and found friendship and love. And she saw not a trace of the merciless killer that had brought shame to the Halliwell name. Instead, she saw the Chris Halliwell she had known all those years ago.

Sylvia slowly nodded, unable to speak as she stared at him, hardly believing that this was happening, that she was seeing him again. "Yes," she finally whispered, her voice shaking visibly. "It's me." She couldn't stop herself from taking a step towards him; she didn't understand it. He had become everything that she had vowed to destroy, yet the mere sight of him made her feel as though she were everywhere at once and her heart felt as though her chest could barely contain it.

Chris shook his head as he took another step closer to her. "There—there were rumours," he said quietly, "that you'd been killed." She shook her head, not sure whether it was the smart thing to just stay here, but her feet wouldn't move. Her heart was telling her to stay and listen to him, but her head was screaming at her to stop this nonsense and run.

But she couldn't force herself to move, even if she wanted to. Every particle of her remained frozen as she stared at him, her vivid blue eyes meeting his green ones and she felt safer than she had felt in almost five years.

"You look beautiful," Chris told her softly, reaching out for a piece of her blonde hair that was hanging in her face, but she jerked away from him. She was willing to stay, but not to the point of insanity. A flicker of hurt crossed his face, but he let his arm fall back to his side. "What are you doing here?"

"Daily demon hunt," she replied simply. Chris managed a small smile at that and nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Wy said that there was a witch out here that needed to be brought in for questioning," Chris said, pulling them back to the present. They were on opposite sides; she was the leader of the resistance, he was the brother of the Source and his second-in-command. Of all people, they could not be seen together and both of them knew it.

"A witch?" Sylvia echoed, cocking an eyebrow.

Chris nodded, his eyes searching their surroundings to see if anybody was around, watching them. "Yeah, but I don't see where—" He stopped, then looked at her somewhat sheepishly. "Oh, I guess he meant you." Sylvia shook her head in amusement and Chris grinned, looking down. For a minute, she could see the Chris that she had lost all those years ago.

"Chris, how could you do this?" she whispered. Her best friend bit his lip and looked down. "You know that it would break Piper's heart if she could see you right now! This is not the man that she raised you to be! Do you think she'd be proud of you right now? Guess again, Christopher, because she is probably Up There right now crying her eyes out." Every word made Chris flinch visibly and she continued to vent out her rage and frustration onto him. "She did not raise you to hunt and kill innocents, Chris! She didn't raise you to fight for the side of evil! She didn't raise you to kill your own family!"

"I didn't!" Chris finally broke through her tirade and looked up at her, his green eyes filled with pain. "It wasn't me, Syl. I didn't kill Uncle Coop and Sam." Sylvia glanced towards him, not sure whether to believe him or not. "Please, trust me, okay? I didn't do it."

"But you _knew_ about it," Sylvia countered. That made his shoulders sag slightly and she shook her head. "You knew about it, Chris, and you did absolutely nothing." She stared him down and he looked away, unable to meet the accusation in her eyes. "What has happened to you?"

"I—"

"Forget it," Sylvia told him, rounding on her heel as she strode from him. "I don't want to know." She could feel his gaze on her and she walked away, her footsteps clattering in the streets as she left.

She didn't dare let herself cry until she was a safe distance away, in the cemetery that Piper and her mother were buried at. Walking towards her mother's grave, Sylvia slowly sat down next to it, her fingertips tracing the inscription that was engraved on it. "I feel so lost, Mom," she whispered quietly. "I don't know where to turn to. He's everything that I'm supposed to hate and yet . . . I care about him more than I have cared about anyone. He's a part of me, always has been. What am I supposed to do?"

Only the wind blowing answered her and she sighed, burying her head into her knees. "Mom, please," she whispered. "If there was ever a time when I needed one of those mother/daughter talks, this is it."

The wind blew harder around her and she raised her head, looking around to find Chris standing there a few feet away, looking uncomfortable as he stood there. "I just got here," he told her.

"Liar."

"Yeah, well, it was worth a shot, wasn't it?" Chris tried futilely to make her smile, but she stubbornly stared at him. "I'm sorry." She shook her head, looking away from him. "Syl, there's something that you should know; I tried to warn them."

Sylvia glanced at him, confused by his words. "Huh?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Uncle Coop and Sam. I tried to warn them about the demon attack, through a spell. Sam wasn't the intended victim, you know. Patty was and Sam intercepted the warning. She went to go warn her sister and then she got in the way of the demon attack." He shook his head. "Because I tried to help them, it just got one of my cousins killed." A small sob emerged from Chris and Sylvia stood up, stopping herself from hurrying to him and holding him to block out the pain. She had done enough for him and all it had done was practically destroy their city and turn it into ruins. "Please, Sylvia, I didn't want them to die. Please believe me," he begged her.

Sylvia looked at him and stared into his green eyes. The pain in them was real and she walked forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. She felt his arms wrap around her and she held him tightly. "I believe you," she whispered. "I believe you, Chris. But . . . everyone else that you _have_ killed, Chris? Innocents, witches? Why are you doing this, turning your back on everything your mother and aunts stood for?"

Releasing a sigh, Chris looked at her, but before either one of them could say anything, they both heard the whirring sound that was accompanied by Wyatt's probes that sought out witches. Sylvia ducked underneath its scan and Chris flung out his hand, sending it towards a tree, where it was smashed into bits and Sylvia looked up, scrambling to her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, panic rising through his eyes. "It didn't have time to transmit, did it?"

"No, I don't think so," Sylvia answered, shaking her head. She backed away from him. "I should go. Goodbye, Chris." Before he could stop her, she hurried away from him, tears starting to fall from her as she ran from the man that she had loved since she was fourteen. But the man had become a monster and Sylvia could feel her heart breaking every time she thought about him.

As her blonde hair fell around her, Sylvia came to a stop in an alleyway, trying to calm herself before she went back to headquarters. There was no way that she could go back there, distressed as she was.

With a small sigh, Sylvia looked up as she heard a yell that broke the silence, shattering the illusion that she was safe for the moment. Who was she kidding? In this time and this place, she was never safe and Sylvia of all people knew that.

Not caring about the danger, Sylvia raced towards the sound and came to a halt when she saw half a dozen demons circling around a young, redheaded girl around Sylvia's own age. Her red hair was the colour of autumn leaves and she had brown eyes, like chocolate. She was taller than Sylvia was and held herself with a certain confidence.

"Hey, you!" she yelled and the demons whirled around to see the young witch that had attracted Wyatt's attention for so long. One of them screamed as she pressed her fingertips to her forehead, concentrating, and he exploded. That was all it took for their attention to be taken from the redhead and she conjured a sword in her hand, swinging it towards the demons.

Plunging her hand into her pocket, Sylvia grabbed the last of her potions and threw it towards the remaining demon. "Get down!" she barked at the redhead witch, who obeyed as the potion hit. Just before he was vanquished, the demon threw an energy ball towards his intended victim and she managed to avoid it for the most part. It hit her on the shoulder, though that was the worst of it.

Racing over to the redhead, Susan helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. The redheaded nodded, scowling, and she sighed. "Okay, good. That's good. What's your name, anyway? Why were those demons attacking you?"

"For no other good reason that I'm a witch who has recently escaped their crew," the redheaded replied, tossing a sheet of her hair back as she glanced sideways at Susan. Her features relaxed and she sighed. "Thanks for your help; I was actually getting a bit outnumbered there." She paused. "I'm Lyla Summers."

"Sylvia Chandler, nice to meet you," she told her with a small smile. "Are you sure that you're okay? Those energy balls can pack quite a punch, especially when they're high voltage." And that one had _definitely_ been a high voltage energy ball, she thought.

Lyla raised her eyebrows. "Are you speaking from experience?" she inquired. Sylvia sighed, not particularly wanting to get involved in the discussion of why so many demons were interested in killing her. Why Wyatt wanted her so desperately out of the way, she had no idea, but she had the feeling it was because she was Chris's only tie to good, the only person who could retrieve the last bit of humanity he had left. James was probably right about that and _that_ was probably why he wanted her dead.

"It's kind of a long story," Sylvia admitted as she looked towards Lyla quickly. "So, uh . . . where do you live at? I'll go with you, make sure that you—" She shook her head, an unhappy look crossing her face as Lyla looked away from her. "Did . . . did something happen to them?" she asked, afraid that she knew the answer.

"Yeah," Lyla said shortly, looking away. "That's nice of you to care, but I can take care of myself. I'll find someplace to crash. Besides, if the Dark Lord's demons come looking for me again, I'm not the type to just run and hide. I'll fight him with everything that I've got."

Sylvia made her decision, slipping underneath Lyla's guards and finding what she needed. There was no reason to fear him; she was a witch, one that was still aligned with good. Her parents had joined Wyatt, her sister, but she had managed to escape, not wanting to live that life. Now she was wanted by many demons, so they could bring her to their master. The capture of a witch, especially a powerful one, was well paid by Wyatt.

Once she had found that, Sylvia looked towards Lyla. "Look, I've got a safe place that you can stay at, but you can't tell anybody about it," she told her. She frowned, but nodded. "I mean it, Lyla, once you're in this safe house, then you have to either swear allegiance to the resistance or else submit to a memory spell so Wyatt can't find us."

Lyla's head shot up the moment she said that she gawked at Sylvia incredulously. "The—the resistance?" she echoed. "You know of the resistance against the Halliwell brothers?" Sylvia smile faintly, but nodded; there was no need for her to know that she was the leader, not yet. Outside of the resistance, the leader was known only as The Ambassador of Good, or just simply the Ambassador. It was an alias that had protect Sylvia from Wyatt and people who didn't know her true identity. "You're part of it?"

Sylvia chuckled slightly. "You could say that," she told her. "Will you agree to the requirements of my taking you there?"

"Yeah, yeah, absolutely," Lyla assured her, her brown eyes alight with relief. "Oh, man, am I glad that I ran into you."

Sylvia smiled faintly as they walked through the streets. "Then let's go."


	4. The Ambassador's Identity

****

Dark Destiny

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: The Ambassador's Identity

"So, Sylvia, how long have you been with the resistance?" Lyla asked her as they walked through the tunnel, the light from her flashlight bouncing off of the walls as the girls travelled through the tunnel that led back to the resistance headquarters. "I mean, how come you joined up?"

"Well, let's just say that I was one of its first members," Sylvia answered with a shrug. "My parents divorced years ago and my brothers and I lived with my mom until she died, about four years ago."

"How did she die?" Lyla asked her, glancing sideways at her. "Was it the Dark Lord? Did he or his idiot brother do it?" Sylvia flinched slightly at her mention of Chris, but otherwise gave no indication that she had been affected by Lyla's words. "Was she a casualty of one of their attacks."

Sylvia hesitated, but nodded mutely. "Yeah, she was," she said quietly. "And my dad, I haven't seen him since I was fourteen. My brother Eric went off to live with him after all this started and I haven't heard from him since. James, my other brother, stays with me at headquarters." She sighed. "He's the only family I've got left."

Lyla nodded, contemplating this as they walked. "I wish that I had that," she said quietly. "At least you've got something to keep fighting for. My parents are traitors to their own kind and they dragged my little sister along with them. I don't know what I'll do if ever meet my sister in open battle."

Sylvia stopped and turned to look at her. "Lyla, let's get one thing straight here," she told her. "There might be a lot of things asked of you if you were to join the resistance. You're going to possibly face capture, torture, and even gruesome death. But there is one thing that The Ambassador never asks of any of us and that's to kill a sibling."

Lyla looked at her quickly. "What if they're trying to kill them?" she asked softly. "Do I have a choice, then?"

"One always has a choice," Sylvia replied quietly, her thoughts on Chris as she continued to walk to through the tunnel. They were at the end of it now and she climbed up the stairs, pounding on the door so the guard on duty could unlatch it from the other side. Lyla glanced up as conversations ceased overhead and they both heard footsteps approach. Sylvia waited impatiently for someone to open the door.

A male voice that was distorted and hard to understand to avoid someone figuring out who was in the resistance said, "Password?"

"Open the stupid door, Parker!" Sylvia snapped to Chris's cousin, one of the few Halliwells that were left. Patty and Sam were Parker's sisters and he had joined up with Sylvia the moment that Sam had been killed, swearing not to rest until his cousins were stopped.

Laughter emerged overhead as the resistance members recognised The Ambassador's voice, along with her sharp temper, and the door unlocked. Rolling her eyes, Sylvia climbed up and made a face at Parker while he rolled his eyes towards her. "I hate it when you do that," she told him as Lyla pulled himself into view and the laughter ceased as the rebels regarded her warily. "Don't worry, it's all right, she's with me."

"Who are you?" James had run from the crowd that had gathered around them and hugged his sister quickly as he eyed Lyla suspiciously. He looked towards Sylvia, his blue eyes that were like his sister's wide with alarm. "What's she doing here?"

"New recruit for the resistance," Sylvia responded, giving her brother a significant look. "She was under attack by demons. Besides, she's got nowhere else to go. Back off, James, she's all right." Sylvia could usually tell right away which side people were on, because of her telepathic and precognition powers. And she more often than not right about people.

Her brother rolled his eyes at her, but shrugged. "If you say so, sis," he said, walking away.

"Little brothers," Sylvia sighed dramatically, causing a few rebels to chuckle and some of the guys who had older siblings groaned. James shot her a wounded look as Lyla laughed. "All right, Lyla, let's go find a Whitelighter so they can heal that shoulder and then we'll get you a room."

"Don't I have to go through some sort of test or something?" Lyla looked at her, then at the crowd at large. Sylvia frowned, not exactly sure what she meant by that. "I mean, you don't just let people in here without even questioning it, do you? That's suicide." Parker stared at her, then looked towards Sylvia, an amused look on his face.

"Let me guess, you didn't exactly tell her?" he asked and Sylvia grinned, shaking her head. "Why am I not surprised? You get some sort of sick, twisted pleasure out of watching people squirm." Turning towards Lyla, Parker grinned at her bewilderment. "What's your name?"

"Lyla. Lyla Summers."

"All right, Lyla. See the thing is, if Sylvia let you through, then there's not even one person here who can question that," Parker explained to her as he placed a hand on Sylvia's shoulder. "You see, this girl here, who brought you here to our hideaway as a new recruit and/or temporary houseguest, not only is Sylvia Chandler, but is known as The Ambassador, the leader of the resistance."

"What?!" Lyla's eyes went wide and she stared at Sylvia, as though expecting her to contradict this statement. When Sylvia did nothing more than give her a weak smile and shrugged, she shook her head. "But how can you be the leader of the resistance? Everyone thinks that The Ambassador is one of the Halliwell cousins or something."

"A situation that makes her all the more protected, considering how wanted the Ambassador is," Parker responded with a smirk towards Sylvia.

"Come on, Lyla," Sylvia sighed as she gave a look towards Parker. "Let's go take care of that shoulder. And maybe you could do something productive, for a change?" she added to Parker as they walked away.

* * *

After Lyla was healed by one of the Whitelighters that was in the resistance, Sylvia took her to the rooms that they had for the rebels so that they could find her a bed. Granted, the places they had weren't spacious, but it was the best they could do. They usually placed two to a room, but there were large complexes for rebels who had families living there as well.

Sylvia placed her with Parker's cousin Prue, his Aunt Phoebe's eldest daughter. After her younger sister Penny had died two years ago, Prue hadn't gotten along with anybody. If Lyla's temper earlier had been any indication, then the two girls were either going to get along beautifully or kill each other. And Sylvia had pretty much had enough of Prue's temper over the past two years. She could use living with someone who was temperamental enough to strike back.

"Hey, Sylvia, I was gonna take over for Mark tonight on guard duty," Parker told her as she came out a meeting with the spies in Wyatt's circles. There was some information about some plans to abduct some witches and force them into service. This particular piece of information was highly disturbing and Sylvia's mind was on it, so she didn't immediately register what Parker had said.

"Huh? Sorry, what'd you say?"

"Crazy girl," Parker muttered and had to duck as her hand went sailing over his head. "I'm gonna cover Mark's shift tonight. His daughter got sick and he's got to watch her."

"Right," Sylvia sighed, brushing a hand through her blonde hair. Mark's wife Moira had been killed two weeks ago, in the attack involving Coop and Sam, so he was now responsible for the upbringing of their four-year-old daughter. "Yeah, sure, that's fine, just make sure you tell Frank and Whitney."

Parker nodded, looking over his shoulder as Lyla and Prue were getting into another argument. "You think it was a good idea, putting her with Prue?" he asked dryly. "They might kill each other."

"Oh, believe me, Park, I know," Sylvia said with a grin. "Look, Prue has been in this mood long enough. It sucks to lose somebody that you love, I know, but she has got to stop this; she's driving everyone mad with this mood of hers. I love her, but she's got to stop."

Parker grinned slightly. "You're a cruel woman, Sylvia Anne Chandler," he told her, chuckling as Sylvia grinned, shrugging. "But seriously, are you sure that she's going to be okay here? I mean, usually when they've got nowhere to go, then there's a reason for it."

"She'll be fine," Sylvia told him as she brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes carefully. "Parker, she's got nowhere to go and you know I can't just let anybody wandering the streets. The fact that we take in people has gained us some very worthy allies."

"Yeah, I know, but you should probably look for somebody next time that maybe could capture your heart," Parker suggested. The look that Sylvia shot him was priceless. "Sylvia, you're a good friend and I really respect you, considering that you've been able to do all this—" He gestured around them. "—but it's no secret that you're in love with Chris. I really think that—"

"Don't," Sylvia cut him off. "Don't even go there, Parker. I can't move on from Chris, okay? He is and always will be my number one and anybody else will always be second." She swallowed as she looked at Parker firmly. "My heart is always going to belong to your cousin and nothing will ever change that. And one day, he's going to come back to me. I know it; I can _feel_ it, Parker. Chris isn't as far gone as Wyatt is."

Parker scoffed as he turned towards her. "When are you going to get it?" he hissed at her. "_When are you going to get it?_ Sylvia, Chris isn't coming back. We have lost him to the forces of evil. As far as I am concerned, my cousin is dead and that's how he's going to stay. You have got to figure that out, because your hopeless belief that Chris is going to come back is just going to be a failure, in the end."

Slamming his hand down on the table, Parker swore loudly, causing everyone in the vicinity to look around towards The Ambassador and her deputy, wondering what the commotion was all about. Sylvia kept her face expressionless as Parker glared at her, shaking his head as he walked away, her heart paining as she thought about his words.

No one spoke or even stopped her as she left the room, her heart almost breaking as she returned to her own room, leaning against the door faintly. _Trust,_ she instructed herself. _Trust is the price. You have to trust that everything will turn out all right, in the end. Otherwise, what are you fighting for? What do you hope to achieve, if not a better future, one that has Chris returned to the side of good in it? _

Sylvia walked across the room, sitting down next to the window, staring out of it and into the dark, desolate city. This place had been her home for over five years. It was the place where she had met Chris and fallen in love with him, watched people she cared about die. And if she was going to die fighting to protect it, then that's what she would do.

But she also knew that the Chris Halliwell that everyone else around her perceived was just on the surface. She had caught a glimpse of the boy he'd been earlier that day and knew that hew as there, just out of reach. If there was some way to bring him back, then maybe . . . just maybe, she could save him. Maybe she could return him to the side of good.

Beyond everything else, Chris was a good person. He always was and he always would be. If he wasn't, then if his word to be trust, then he wouldn't have tried to save his cousin and uncle that day. He would have just left them to their fate. Instead, he had tried to save them; he had tried to intervene, even though it was probably against Wyatt's will. If he was willing to cross his brother to save them, then there was no doubt that the Chris Halliwell she knew was still there, just buried. The only question left was, if he really believed what he was doing was wrong, then why was he doing it?

There was no answer that she could come up with and if Sylvia, who knew Chris best of all, didn't know, then who did?

A knock came at the door and she jumped, startled out of her thoughts as she whirled around. The door slid open and Lyla poked her head inside. "Hey, can I come in?" she asked and Sylvia smiled faintly, waving her in. "Is everything okay? You seemed a little . . ." She shook her head, shrugging as she sat down on the bed. "You looked upset."

"I'm fine," Sylvia replied quiet, shrugging carefully as she sat back down on the window seat. Lyla nodded once, not looking like she believed her, but didn't pursue the subject. "Honestly, I'm fine. Just got some stuff that's going on with Parker."

"So are you and Parker . . ." Lyla waved her hand. "Is The Ambassador actually dating her deputy, 'cause that's what some people are saying, too. They're saying that he or she's dating one of the remaining Halliwell witches."

Sylvia laughed, shaking her head. "Not hardly. Parker and I are just friends. I knew him through his cousins and we met up again when I started forming the resistance."

Lyla shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "He's got a crush on you, though," she replied. "Any fool can see that."

"What?" Sylvia sat up straight; she hadn't been expecting that. "Get out of here."

"I'm serious," Lyla said, laughing at her disbelief. "I'm telling you the truth." Sylvia shook her head, mulling this over as Lyla's laughter ceased. "So tell me, something," she said, changing the subject. "How did a teenage girl who has no strong reason for fighting the Halliwells end up leading the resistance against them? How'd you get wound up in all this?"

"Did I ever say that I had no real reason for fighting them?" Sylvia inquired, cocking an eyebrow. "I have my reasons. Believe me, if I could turn back time and save Chris and Wyatt from becoming the monsters they are, then I would do it in a second. I hate fighting them."

With a frown, Lyla studied her curiously, pushing her red hair out of her eyes. "You say that like you know them."

"I _do_ know them," Sylvia replied softly. "Those cousins of Parker's that I was talking about? That was Chris and Wyatt. He's their Aunt Paige's son. I got to know Parker through Chris, mostly. Chris and I, we were friends; more than that, we were best friends."

Surprise flew over Lyla's face, but before she could comment of the fact that the Ambassador was the best friend of the younger brother of the Source, Sylvia cut across her. "What I told you about my family was true; we did move here after my parents divorced. Right next door to the Halliwell's home, which was how Chris and I met. Back then," she added quietly, "he was the sweetest and most caring boy you could ever find. You could search the entire universe, but never find anybody that came close. He cared more about fighting for the greater good than anyone I've ever known."

"What happened, then?" Lyla asked. "It's hard to believe that the boy you describe become the second-in-command to the Source of All Evil."

Sylvia smiled faintly. "His mother was killed by demons," she answered. "Along with his cousin. After that happened, Chris started to lose faith in what we were fighting for. And Wyatt was right there to pull his brother into the depths of evil. We didn't know it back then, but Wyatt had turned to the dark side sometime before Piper's death.

"I tried so desperately to get Chris back, Lyla. I tried everything that I could to pull him back. And even today, I still believe that some humanity remains in him. He's not as far gone as people believe. I know him, better than anyone else. And I know he wouldn't be doing this unless there was a reason for it, a good reason."

"But why?" Lyla asked with a sigh as she leaned back against the wall. "What reasons could he possibly have for killing people?"

Sylvia shrugged. "Believe me, I wish I knew."

Lyla nodded, her face twisting into a small smile. "You know, I know that Wyatt Halliwell is a very bad guy," she commented. "And I would never join him in a million years, but I have got to admit, he is the hottest guy that I've ever seen." Sylvia laughed as she looked towards Lyla quickly.

For one minute—one small moment that went by sooner than it should have—Sylvia Chandler felt as though she weren't The Ambassador and their world hadn't been destroyed. For one small moment, she was just a twenty-year-old girl who was laughing with a friend.

It was a shame that moment couldn't have lasted longer.


	5. A Light in the Darkness

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Five: A Light in the Darkness

It was early in the morning when Sylvia left headquarters, sneaking away from her duty so she could see an old friend. Only James knew where she was going and it was his responsibility for telling Parker that she was leaving . . . and then running away as quickly as possible before Parker let out an explosion for leaving him in charge. Lyla was helping with the rescue of a male witch that was going to be under attack.

Sylvia slipped through the streets, her hands in her pockets as she kept to herself as much as possible. This wasn't a patrol to find any spare demons roaming around; this was to sneak to a house that she hadn't been to for a long time. One that had changed over the past five years and not particularly in a good way.

As she stared up at the old Halliwell manor, Sylvia sighed as she walked up the steps and pushed the door open, giving it a small knock as she entered. "Hello?" she called out as she entered. "Leo? Are you home?"

She could hear the sounds of wheels approaching and then Leo Wyatt, Chris and Wyatt's father, pushed himself into the room in his wheelchair. A couple of months after the brothers' rampage on the city, Leo had gotten wounded during a battle. Most of the injuries were able to heal, but a lot of damage had been done to his legs, leaving him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"Sylvia, how you been?" Leo looked happy to see her as she walked over to him, bending down to hug him. She straightened as he smiled up at her. "Are you going to be staying for awhile? You want a cup of tea?" He wheeled himself into the kitchen as he asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Sylvia told him as she walked after him, breathing in the sweet scent of the kitchen. Even now, it still smelled of potions and herbs. It brought a painful reminder of how things used to be and could be again if she could ever bring Chris back to the person that he used to be, even though she was probably the only person who believed that he could still be saved, despite all odds.

Once they were sitting down at the table, Leo looked at her over his mug. "It's good that you came by, Sylvia, this place is too quiet with nobody else here," he told her. "Of course, nothing ever stays quiet these days. Wyatt keeps coming over here to demand that I turn the house over to him." He sighed. "I don't know where we went wrong with him."

"Sometimes I think Wyatt was just born to be the bad one," Sylvia muttered as she sipped her tea. "He was like that as long as I've known him, Leo. It's not like it was with Chris. With Chris . . . it was like a loss of innocence and he dived off at the deep end and never came back up." Leo nodded as he looked out the window.

"This would break Piper's heart if she could see it," he murmured. "I keep playing that day over and over in my mind, to think of what I could've done to change that day. That was when everything changed. When Piper died, that was what drove Chris off the edge."

Sylvia sighed. "I saw him the other day," she remarked. Leo glanced up at her. "Chris. He pretty much saved my life. Bianca had me kind of cornered." She was silent for a minute, and then glanced up at the ex-Elder. "Leo . . . the day that Sam and Coop died . . . was Sam even supposed to be there, or did she kind of show up unexpectedly?" She said this all very fast, as though she were trying to get it all out before she lost her nerve.

"Why do you ask?" Leo was frowning slightly as he thought back to that painful day. Sylvia didn't answer and he sighed. "I don't really remember, Sylvia. It's . . . I think maybe she didn't show up until later, at the last minute, right when the demons attacked."

"Were they aiming for Patty?" Sylvia couldn't have borne the fact that Paige's youngest daughter being killed, with her carrying an unborn child. "Was it Patty that they were aiming for?"

Leo closed his eyes and nodded. "Sam saved her sister and her baby's life," he said softly. "I'm sure that Paige is proud of her." Sylvia let out a soft breath as she heard that. Chris had been telling her the truth. He'd told her the truth. "Why do you ask?"

"Chris told me that he sent a message to Sam, telling her that Patty and Coop were going to be attacked and that she went to warn them," Sylvia explained. "He told me that he didn't want them to die and that he tried to save them, but all it did was end up with Sam getting killed."

"Do you believe him?"

"How do I answer that?" Sylvia stood up and walked over to the window, staring out into the dark city. "The better question is, do I want to believe him? The answer to that is yes. I want to believe that Chris is still that loving, kind-hearted boy that I knew. But to ask me if I believe that he is, I don't know." She sighed. "Leo, it's too much of a coincidence for it not to be true, but why would he have tried to save their lives, if he was truly fighting for the side of evil? Why would he be doing all of this, if he is the heartless, careless person that everyone believes him to be?"

Slowly wheeling himself over to her, Leo met her eyes carefully. "The only person who can answer that is Chris himself," he told her. Sylvia closed her eyes, wishing that she knew which path to take.

"Parker doesn't believe that Chris can be saved."

"Well, Parker has lost faith in everything," Leo replied. "Henry told me that he barely even recognises his son anymore. But losing a sister can destroy a person. It almost did Piper and that was only losing a sister to a demon. Imagine losing a sister to a relative, someone that you trusted."

Sylvia thought about if she lost James and Eric had something to do with it. More than that, he'd been involved personally. The very thought of it made her want be sick. "I don't want to think about that," she whispered, shivering slightly as she turned away.

"Believe me, I don't think that Chris is as far gone," Leo told her. "But Chris has been lost into the world of evil and he believes himself to be evil. I could see that the last time I saw him. It's going to be hard to pull him away from that, Sylvia." He looked at her sharply. "You may be the key that pulls him away from the dark side. You're his best friend and he loves you."

"Like a sister," Sylvia said bitterly, knowing perfectly well how Chris looked at her. She wasn't sure if she could handle that, if she managed to pull him back and then he fell in love with someone else. It would break her heart even more than Evil Chris did.

Leo shook his head sharply. "No," he told her. "More than that." Sylvia glanced up at her. "He never once saw you as a sister, Sylvia. Even Wyatt saw that and you were the last person that he ever wanted Chris to be with. No, Chris is in love with you, always has been. Don't tell me that you don't know that, kiddo."

Sylvia couldn't believe that. It was far too impossible for it to be true. "He isn't in love with me," she said softly. "If he was, then he wouldn't have left me alone after Piper died—and then my mom not even a couple months later, leaving me alone to raise two brothers. He wouldn't have forced me to face an evil that is so terrifying that it wakes me up in the middle of the night. And not because it's so horrible either; it's because I cared about that evil so much. Chris would not do that if he was in love with me."

"Love makes us all do things that reason cannot understand," Leo responded wisely. "I never wanted to become an Elder, Sylvia, but destiny forced me to. And because I tried to hold on to Piper and Wyatt, I put the two of them at risk." He looked at her. "Sylvia, can you honestly tell me that even though you know what you know, you have any less feelings for Chris? Can you tell me truthfully that even after all this time, after all he's done, you've stopped loving him?"

"I haven't seen him in almost two years before the other day, Leo," Sylvia said, avoiding the question.

"That's not what I asked," Leo told her. "And besides, love doesn't know time or distance. It isn't measured by how long you've seen them. It's something that you feel in your heart and soul every time that you see that person, every time that you look into their eyes."

Sylvia said nothing as she thought back to when she had seen Chris that day. She had been so angry with him, but that hadn't stopped her heart from racing or her palms to get sweaty or her stomach from getting queasy when she looked into those green eyes of his.

Those wonderful green eyes that she had first looked into over five years ago and found love and friendship. Sylvia couldn't say that she hadn't felt those feelings rise through her again as she saw Chris again.

But before she could answer Leo, she heard the front door slam and without knowing the reason, Sylvia felt fear rise through her. "Dad!" a frighteningly familiar voice shouted. "Where are you? Get out here right now, 'cause if I have to track you down, I'm not going to be happy!"

"Wyatt," Sylvia breathed, the blood draining from her face. Leo looked as pale as she did and jerked his head towards the basement door. Slipping through it as quietly as she could, Sylvia stepped down the steps, praying that Wyatt hadn't heard anything as she sat down on the steps, listening carefully. She could sense the dark presence as Wyatt stomped into the kitchen.

"Why didn't you answer me?"

"Because I was in the middle of something and you don't talk like that to me in this house, Wyatt Halliwell," his father said warningly. Wyatt snorted, but didn't reply. "Is there something that you needed?"

"I think you already know what I'm here for, Dad," Wyatt said mockingly. "Have you given any more thought to my proposal?"

Leo chuckled. "You mean the one about turning the manor over to you so you can possess all of the Halliwell magic and turning the entire magical line into darkness? Yeah, I've thought about it, son, and the answer is still what it was the last time that you asked me. And the time before that," he added, "and the time before that. Oh, and uh . . . the time before that." Sylvia bit her lip as she peered underneath the door. Wyatt's black shoes were clattering nosily against the floor. They sounded like cannons.

"You realise that I have enough power to take this place for myself, don't you?" Wyatt asked. "And that I would kill you without a second thought, because you are completely worthless. You failed as a husband and as a father. You can't even defend yourself against me, with no powers."

That caused Leo to laugh. "You're right, I don't," he agreed. "So, you're just going to strike down a crippled old man to have your way? Look how far you've fallen, Wyatt."

"Spare met the lectures, old man."

Leo wheeled his way over to his son. "You can say what you want, Wyatt," he told him. "You can kill innocents, turn witches to serve you, and murder your own family. But this manor will never be yours, because it belongs to Halliwells who are aligned with good. And I will never let it fall into your hands, do you hear me?"

Sylvia heard the sound of orbs and closed her eyes as silence emerged through the door before the sound of Leo's wheelchair came. "It's all right, he's gone," he said as he opened the door. "I think you'd better go, while it's clear."

"Probably for the best," Sylvia murmured as she stood up, hugging Leo briefly. "Do you really think that Chris can be saved?"

The look that the ex-Elder gave her was one of pure faith. "Without a doubt," he answered. "Just as there is no doubt you will find a way to save him, Sylvia. Chris once called you a light in the darkness. There was no doubt then—or now—that he spoke true. Now go," he said softly. "And hurry."


	6. False Memories

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Six: False Memories

Sylvia was silent all the way home from the manor as she pulled her coat tighter around her, blue eyes grave as she thought about what Leo had told her about Chris. If his father hadn't lost faith, then perhaps there was still hope remaining for the man she loved. And he was absolutely right; if there was no chance that Chris could ever be saved, then he wouldn't have tried to save his cousin. That one act—that simple, pure Chris act—proved that the Chris she knew and loved was still remaining underneath the surface. The core of Chris Halliwell could never be destroyed; it could only be buried.

Her footsteps clattered against the streets as she kicked an empty soda can out of the way, her thoughts on Chris as she sensed rather than heard the demon sneak up from behind her and she turned around. "We really need to do this?" she asked as the demon snarled at her. "Okay, then."

"Prepare to die, witch."

"That's what they all say," Sylvia countered as she dived out of the way, landing a few feet away as he conjured an energy ball and she was about to use her telepathy to blow him up when she was tackled from behind by another demon, who pinned her to the ground. "Don't you guys ever get tired of this? Doesn't answering to His Royal High and Mightiness ever get old?"

"You dare insult Lord Wyatt?" The demon that had her pinned was furious. "We will make you respect him, witch."

"I don't _have_ to respect him; I'm not sworn to him," Sylvia pointed out. "And besides, I've known him longer than you have." She managed to pull her hand free and tried to stretch it towards a trash can lid, but it was just out of reach. "I mean, seriously, if you had seen that guy when he was sixteen and going through that really awkward stage in high school—"

"Shut up!" The demon slammed her harder onto the ground. "Aren't you that Chandler witch?"

"At the moment, I would rather not be," Sylvia muttered, still trying to reach the trashcan. She struggled to stretch her fingers towards it. She _had_ to get away from her, she just _had_ to . . .

As though it was called by her thoughts, the trashcan suddenly moved slightly before it sailed into the air, slamming into the demon that was holding her down and he stumbled backwards, giving her the opportunity to break free. Sylvia frowned slightly as she hurried a few feet away from them, wondering how she could have possibly done that.

The demon shook his head as he scrambled to his feet while his companion conjured an energy ball in his hand, holding it threateningly towards her. Sylvia didn't even flinch. "You won't be getting away from this, witch," he warned her as he threw the energy ball towards her. Sylvia acted on instinct, throwing out her hand.

As though by her command, the energy ball was sent flying away from her and returned to its caster. The demon howled as he was engulfed by the flames and was vanquished. His companion looked at Sylvia as she threw a potion towards him and she looked down at her hands the moment that she was alone again.

Hearing the sounds of applause behind her, Sylvia turned around to face the same person that had saved her from the phoenix witch last time. "You know, we're starting to make a tradition out of this," she told him as she turned away, walking away from Chris.

"Yeah, well, I had to make sure that you were all right." She glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "I sensed you in the manor earlier. That was a pretty risky place to be, with Wyatt there. Didn't think you would be crazy enough to try that."

"Well, it's not like I've got the power to orb or something," she pointed out. "And once your brother was there, what else could I do?" She shoved her hands into her pockets as he fell into step next to her. "Your dad told me that the demons were trying to kill Patty."

The corners of his mouth turned upward slightly. "I thought you said that you believed me," he pointed out. She sighed. "No, I get why you asked him. I haven't given you a whole lot of reasons to believe that I would help Patty." He paused. "Is she okay? Nobody's seen her in awhile and I know that no news is good news, but still . . ."

"She's fine," Sylvia said shortly. "That's all I can tell you, Chris." She glanced at him once and sighed; this would be so less confusing if he weren't an old friend of hers. More than that, if he weren't the man that she loved with all of her heart and soul. It would be _so_ much simpler. "I didn't hear you at the manor when Wyatt was there."

Chris shrugged. "I wasn't. Wyatt told me to wait outside until he was finished to see if there was any proof that rebels were visiting Dad and getting help from him."

"Leo isn't helping us," Sylvia insisted. "Not in the direct sense, anyway. I was just visiting an old friend and frankly, I really don't see the problem with that. The one thing that is wrong with this war, Chris, is that we can't even visit people we care about without sneaking around." _Like this,_ she thought helplessly as she looked away from her oldest friend.

"I know." Chris looked miserable as they walked into an alley. Probably not the safest place, but they were more guaranteed not to be seen than they were out in the streets. "The only way that I can see any of my family is if they're captured and I'm supposed to be trying to turn them to our side."

"If that's supposed to make me feel sorry for you, you're failing miserably, Christopher," Sylvia muttered as she sat down on some boxes. Chris grinned as he sat down next to her. "Look, I need to know why you're doing this. I know you as well as you know yourself—or at least I did. And I still believe that the part of you that I knew hasn't died. Not really," she added softly as she looked into his green eyes. "Please, just tell me why you're doing this, so I can try and understand this."

Chris was silent for a long moment and as she looked at him, she saw his eyes were filled with tears and he was taking soft, shaking breaths. "Hey, what is it?" she asked, alarmed. Since Piper's death, she had never seen him lose it like this. Granted, she had seen him sparingly over the past five years, but still. "Chris, what's wrong?"

"There something that you need to know . . . about me," he said finally as he looked up at her. His green eyes were filled with pain. Sylvia slipped her hand into his, lending him her strength to keep going. They had always depended on each other for strength. Somehow, it was a comfort to know that he still needed that. Perhaps it was a reminder of the part of Chris that hadn't died yet, that was still struggling to survive underneath the dark and sinister outlook that he had taken on over the past five years. Or perhaps it was because he had never really abandoned himself, just forced himself to bury the good part of him to survive in this new world.

"What is it?" Sylvia asked him softly when he didn't continue. "Chris, tell me what's going on."

He was scaring her, he really was. There was something going on that directly involved why he was getting involved with all of this, something big and he couldn't even look at her in the eye. She cupped his head and forced him to look at her. "Chris, what is going on?" she asked, her tone firm. This was not Sylvia Chandler talking; she never used that tone of voice. That was the tone of voice she only used when she was speaking as The Ambassador.

Chris was shaking as he looked at her, his green eyes frightened. "I did something bad," he whispered, sounding like a little boy who'd stolen cookies from the jar. "It's really bad." He shook his head.

"Tell me," Sylvia said, softening her voice slightly.

With a small nod, Chris wiped his eyes on his hoodie before looking at her, his face expressionless. "I killed Mom," he whispered. Sylvia let go of Chris in shock; whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't that.

"What?" she whispered. It couldn't be . . . it just couldn't be . . . how could Chris—sweet, kind, caring Chris—ever have killed his mother? He loved her, he cherished her . . . there was just no way . . . it couldn't be . . .

Wait a minute, Sylvia thought, blinking. It _couldn't_ be. Piper had already been hit when she and Chris had run into the manor that day. She was lying on the floor, dying with her son next to her while Sylvia stood next to them, shielding Chris from any harm. Nobody knew exactly how Piper had died, nobody had seen who had hit her that day—there was too much going on—but it was determined she was hit by a high level energy ball. Someone who had a great deal of power and intent to kill the eldest Charmed One . . .

"Chris, that's impossible."

"No, it's not," Chris told her. "I know what happened. I was there, I killed her, Sylvia. It's what happened."

"I was there, too," she reminded him. "Neither one of us was there when Piper was hit. We were out back, talking as we watched the stars. Don't you remember?" she asked, seeing his blank look. He shook his head in confusion as Sylvia frowned, wondering what was going on.

Knowing there was no other option, Sylvia reached her hands, touching his temples carefully. Chris jerked away from her, scared. "Sylvia, what are you doing?" he asked fearfully. "Don't, please . . . don't get into my mind. I don't want you to see what I did . . ."

"Chris, just relax," she told him soothingly. "Let everything drift away. This is the only way to find out the truth. You remember one version of things and I remember another. This is the only way to find out which one of us is right and who's memories have been meddled with."

And she knew immediately which one's it was. Being an extremely talented telepath, Sylvia was immune to tricks of the mind, illusions played by enemies to confuse her. A good thing, too, because she had lost count as to how many times they'd tried to trick her into thinking that they were one of her enemies.

As she had done so many years ago, when they were lying on his bed and she was comforting him by placing good memories into his mind, Sylvia slipped underneath his guards and plunged into his memories. Most of what she saw repulsed her. He had killed so many . . . had struck down so many humans because of what he'd become . . .

Pushing those memories aside, she dived after the one of his sixteenth birthday, when his mother died and found a moth-eaten memory. It was as though bits and pieces were missing from it, as though someone had taken the real memory and placed a fake one in it . . . which was exactly what had happened to Chris.

_Stop, Sylvia, please,_ Chris begged her silently as she found the real memory. She hesitated, wanting to pull it up and into his mind again, where he could see what really happened, but didn't. Slowly, she pulled herself out of his mind and found him sitting on the boxes next to her, crying.

"There's no point in looking, Sylvia," he whispered. "I know what I did. There's no denying it. It was me. I'm a monster and so I'm where I belong. Don't deny it, Syl, you know it's true." Sylvia was silent as she stared at her best and oldest friend.

"You're not a monster," she told him softly. He scoffed as he looked away from her. "You're not. Listen to me, Chris. My dad moved us around so much that I never had anyone besides the twins to depend on. Nobody bothered trying to make friends with us because we moved around so much. After the divorce, coming to San Francisco . . . that was the best thing that my parents ever did for me. And I mean that truthfully," she added. "Because it brought me to you. Moving here brought us together, Chris, and I will never admit that our meeting was a mistake. You were the first friend that I ever had, Chris," she whispered, her voice starting to break. "And I don't want to lose you. I still have faith in you, in your person. Please don't prove me wrong. You're not a bad person. You are a very good person who bad things have happened to."

"I killed my mother."

"No, you didn't," she whispered softly. "And even if you did, then you didn't mean to. It was an accident." She had seen the fake memory, in which she and Chris had been in the house when the demons attacked. Chris had lunged forward to try and vanquish a demon and Piper pushed him out of the way to avoid him being hit by an energy ball. It was very clever, the way that Wyatt had manipulated his memories. "Please, Chris, trust me. You didn't kill her."

He shook his head. "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you, too," Sylvia whispered as she held him tightly. "More than you'll ever know." She kissed his brow and he stroked her blonde hair carefully. "Chris, once upon a time, we were friends. Why can't we have that again?"

Chris shook his head. "Sylvia, we can't," he breathed, though he looked as though he were struggling to keep himself from saying those words. "I—I know who you are. I've known for years. The Ambassador can't be seen with me. You know that."

"I know a place." Sylvia had kept a safe house for her and James, in case they ever needed to escape. That was before they had formed the resistance and she had kept it, just in case. "Will you meet me? Tonight?"

They both jumped up as they heard voices around the corner and Chris turned before looking back at her. "I will," he whispered as he orbed away.

And Sylvia realised with a smile that his orbs, despite everything that had happened, remained a beautiful, constant blue.


	7. Evacuation

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Evacuation

Susan slipped into the room that she shared with her brother, tossing the jacket onto the bed as James glanced over at her curiously. "Problems getting home from Leo's?" he asked and she shrugged, emptying her pockets of the potions and returning the athame to its place on her desk.

"Demon," she answered quietly and he nodded. "And I think that I might have a new power." James perked up with interest at this and turned around to give her his full attention. "When I was fighting them, I was trying to get this trashcan lid, you know, to hit them with and all of a sudden . . ."

"All of a sudden . . .?" James prompted.

"It flew over to me, as though I had called it over with telekinesis or something," Sylvia explained and James looked thrilled at this prospect. "I think I'm developing telekinesis or something similar to it, anyway. There's no other explanation."

"Oh, thank goodness," James said. He looked as happy as she felt; she had always hated the fact that she had no active power. "It's about time that you've got a power that you can fight demons with. You know, that always scared me, because you keep going on every night to go fight demons and all you've got to fight with are potions and fighting skills."

"Excuse me, I can fight fully well with telepathy," Sylvia countered and her brother grinned as he leaned back against the bed. She shook her head as she sat down on her own bed, glancing out the window. "So, did Parker say how the rescue mission went?" she asked as an attempt to divert herself from thinking about what was going to happen tonight. This was probably the stupidest, craziest thing she had done in her life, but Sylvia knew she had to. For her own sake, as much as Chris's.

James burst into detailed information about how Lyla and the others had managed to rescue two of the witches, but the third sibling had gotten captured by the demons and was in Wyatt's dungeons right now, being tortured for information and/or being turned to his side. Sylvia only half paid attention to what he was saying as she stared outside and if he noticed this, he either didn't care or pretended not to.

But her thoughts were soon interrupted by Parker as he barged into their room without knocking. "All right, James, I need you to tell me where your sister is because we need her—" He stopped talking when he saw Sylvia. "—here. Oh, you're back. Why didn't you tell Lyla that you were back? Never mind," he said hurriedly. "We need you downstairs, Sylvia. It's Roxanne, she's hurt bad."

Sylvia sprung to her feet, hurrying after Parker as he led her downstairs, James right behind them. Roxanne was one of the spies at Wyatt's domain, one of those in his inner circle, so if she was hurt, then he had most likely found out that she was tied to the rebellion. It was a miracle that she had managed to get out of there alive.

The Whitelighters were all standing around her, healing Roxanne as Sylvia, Parker, and James entered. One of them glanced up and noticed The Ambassador standing there and glanced towards a rebel standing nearby, who immediately went over to her.

"Sylvia, we found her down in the tunnels, calling out for help. She was barely coherent when we found her, but we can't be sure if demons found their way here. Roxanne may have unintentionally led some of them here while she was trying to get here." He was looking worried. "She may be able to tell you how she got attacked when she wakes, but it will be awhile."

"Of course," Sylvia murmured, trying to think. "Send out the order for evacuation. We're taking no chances. We need to be out of here within the hour. Do not leave anybody behind. Tell everyone to pack what they need or what is essential to the rebellion. Leave nothing behind that could tip Wyatt off to where we've gone. James, you know the drill," she said, glancing at her brother.

James nodded quickly as he left behind, casting a quick look at Roxanne before he left. "Sylvia, where are we going to?" he wanted to know. "We can't go back to the old headquarters; demons know where that's at. The safe house?"

Sylvia's heart stopped. "No," she replied. "It's not safe anymore. Don't worry, I'll figure something out." She looked towards the rebel. "How soon will Roxanne be able to talk to me about what happened?"

"I think she may be coming to now, Miss Sylvia," a Whitelighter said as Roxanne let out a soft groan and they dispatched around her. "We'll try and prepare everyone for leaving. We should hurry," he added, glancing towards Roxanne as Sylvia walked over to her.

"Roxanne?" she asked softly, placing a hand onto her shoulder. The witch groaned slightly, opening her eyes and she smiled down at her. "Are you all right? You gave us quite a turn back there." She nodded weakly. "What happened to you? Did Wyatt found out that you were working for us?"

"Yes . . ." Roxanne struggled to form words and she gasped for breath as she stared up at Sylvia's blue eyes, looking guilty and ashamed. "Miss Sylvia . . . please . . . I'm so sorry." She gave a small gasp of pain that showed clearly in her eyes. Sylvia shook her head, not understanding. "I failed you, Ambassador. He is coming . . . he is looking for you, to find you and bring you to his dominion."

Sylvia shook her head. "Wyatt?"

Roxanne nodded once. "He . . . he wants to . . ." Before she could finish the statement, her head fell limply to her side and Sylvia shouted for one of the Whitelighters, but by the time that they got there, it was already too late. The light had died from her eyes and Roxanne was beyond anyone's help. Even one of the most powerful Elders alive could not have granted to gift of life.

Shaking as she slowly got to her feet, Sylvia looked at the Whitelighters that had come to her call. "Let's get out of here," she whispered as she walked away. There was no time for sorrows; she would have time to grieve later. Right now, there were people's lives on the line, people who depended on her. Sylvia Chandler would have to grieve later. Right now, The Ambassador was needed.

--

"Sure that nobody's going to follow us down here?" James asked softly as he walked next to his sister. Behind them, there were fifty or more people walking with them through the sewers. "I mean, nobody knows these tunnels better than you, but . . . there's always a chance."

"If they do, then they're going to have to get what's coming to them," Sylvia responded shortly. People were getting tired, she knew, and they weren't anywhere close to somewhere safe. Her patience was wearing thin. "Whatever they dish out, they're going to get back double."

James was silent as he looked at his sister. "What I don't get is how they finally caught Roxanne," he said after a minute. "She's been down there almost two years, Syl. If she was gonna get caught, then it should've happened before now. How'd he find out?"

"I'm gonna find out," Sylvia replied as she glanced sideways towards her brother. She wrapped an arm around him, drawing him closer. "But first we need to find someplace safe, Jamie. It's gonna be all right, I promise. It's going to be fine." But she was having a hard time convincing herself as well as her little brother.

Prue suddenly appeared next to her, her dark eyes, so much like her mother's, grave. "Sorry to bother you, Your Ladyship, but we kind of need a break here," she said scathingly. "It may have escaped your notice, but we've got tired people here."

Sylvia glanced over her shoulder and sighed; almost everybody was completely wiped out and barely able to keep up with her. "All right," she said quietly. "We'll take a break. Get the rations out and start serving, but we need to get a move on in a half hour."

"As you wish," Prue said mockingly. Sylvia glanced towards Phoebe's eldest daughter, but she had already vanished into the crowd, distributing the orders and she sighed. After her sister had died, Prue hadn't given much respect to everybody, least of all Sylvia. She said that Sylvia was pretty much doing the same thing that Wyatt was, getting followers to serve as a dish to the enemy, not caring what happened to them.

"Go ahead and rest up, bro," Sylvia told James as he half-collapsed onto the ground. "I'm gonna head up, see if I can find anything."

James looked up at her worriedly. "Sure that's a good idea?" he asked anxiously. "I mean, they've got to know by now that the resistance is gone from headquarters. They're gonna be on the lookout for us." His blue eyes were focused on hers nervously.

"Don't worry, little brother," Sylvia sighed. "They're not gonna be tracking us down, not if I can help it."

"I'm going with you." Lyla had approached them and folded her arms across her chest. "You're gonna need back up, Sylvia, and I can hold my own. Besides, we need to find a place before the demons are picking us off one by one." Sylvia hesitated, then nodded.

"All right, let's go," she said, looking over to her deputy. "Parker!" He looked around at her, before heading over quickly. "Lyla and I are gonna head up and see if we can find anyplace. If we're not back in a half-hour, then go without us. Your main priority is to get these people to safety. Even if we get captured, don't come after us. You know the rules." She met his gaze evenly before looking at Lyla. "Let's go."

"Right behind you, boss," Lyla said with a grin as they headed through the sewers, getting a good distance between them and the resistance before getting above ground. "I've never been in this part of town," Lyla commented as she surveyed the area around her. "Have you?"

Sylvia looked around them, her expression grave. "Once," she whispered softly, recognising the place.

_There was a feeling of darkness, death, and destruction all around her as she stared at the place where the battle had occurred. This was only the beginning, she realised, the start of something that she may not be able to stop. _

_Slowly, she took a step forward, walking through the battlefield. The battle was over, but that didn't mean that the danger had passed. Paige was right next to her, with her son and niece Prue. "Let's spread out, see if there's any survivors," she suggested. "Yell if something happens." _

_"Don't worry, we'll find them," Paige said confidentially, though she was shaken by the sight in front of her, Sylvia could tell. She knew the feeling; the sixteen-year-old felt just as shaken and unnerved by all of this as the youngest Charmed One. _

_Walking through the destruction, Sylvia kept a look out, checking the bodies to see if anybody were alive, but every one that she found was just as dead as the last. _Chris, how could you do this?_ she thought, pain striking her heart. She didn't understand this; how could he have possibly . . ._

_A groan caught her attention and she whirled around, racing towards the sound, pushing a corpse off of the survivor and she went pale as she saw who it was. "Mom," she breathed, staring down at the battered, mutilated body of her mother, who blinked up at her. "Mom, I'm here! I'm gonna get you some help, all right? It's gonna be all right, it's gonna be fine." _

_Sylvia knew she was rambling, knew that her mother was beyond saving, but she didn't care. Her mother smiled faintly, shaking her head weakly. "My baby girl," she whispered, raising a shaking hand to touch Sylvia's cheek. "Do not give up . . . no matter what happens . . . no matter how hopeless it seems, never give up on him . . ." She closed her eyes, a pained look crossing her face before she looked at her daughter. "Many more will die if you give up on him, my daughter . . . he is a part of you and always will be. Don't lose him," she whispered, "the way that I lost your father." _

_"Mom—" Before Sylvia could finish, her mother's hand dropped away from her and her eyes closed forever. Her head turned to her side and then she was gone, leaving her daughter alone in the world to raise her two brothers and fight the man that she loved._

"This was the place where Wyatt and Chris staged their first attack," she answered quietly as she walked through the ruins. "It's all ruins now. Nobody ever comes here, not even demons. They all feel it . . . the chaos and the ruin and the destruction. All of it started here." She stopped as she reached the place where her mother had been lying and stared down at it for a full minute. "So many lives were taken here," she whispered. "So many lives destroyed because of this."

Paige had died here, with her son barrelling into a rage at the lone demon who'd killed his mother. She remembered the enraged face that Parker had sported as he slaughtered his mother's murderer. Part of the reason why Parker had never become the Ambassador was because he didn't trust himself in that position. He never wanted to be that close to the dark side again, he had once told her.

Sylvia looked towards Lyla, who was staring up at a building that still remained standing, though near ruins. She smiled at Sylvia. "I think that I found a safe hiding place," she announced.


	8. Forbidden Meeting

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eight: Forbidden Meeting

The house that Lyla had found had been condemned for years and it was a miracle that it was still standing. It was safe enough, though, considering nobody ventured into this part of town anymore, and once the concealing spell was in place, Sylvia decided that there was nobody that could find them for the time being.

People were all in sleeping bags as Sylvia stepped through the room, keeping a careful eye out. "Jamie," she whispered softly to her brother, "I'm gonna go out for a little bit, all right? I'll be back soon."

"You gonna go patrolling?" James questioned, looking at her curiously. She hesitated, not wanting to lie to her brother, but knowing that the kid wasn't going to be able to keep a secret like this. The Ambassador meeting the second-in-command of the Source was most likely going to be headline news if anybody found out about it.

"Yeah, just for awhile, to make sure that nobody's on to us," she replied, tousling his dark hair affectionately. "I'll be gone for awhile, all right? Don't worry, I'll be okay."

James studied her for a minute, his identical blue eyes narrowing. "You're not going to go patrolling, are you?" he whispered, a hint of fear in his voice. "Sylvia, what's going on? Where are you going?" He actually did sound scared, she realised.

"There's just something that I need to do, Jamie," she told him gently. "If I don't do this, then I'm going to end up regretting it one day and we both know that I've got more than enough regret in my life. This is just something that I have got to do. I can't abandon this cause, little brother," she told him softly, thinking of Chris. "I've got to do this. For me and him," she added meaningfully.

The way that his eyebrows narrowed together, she gathered he knew exactly what she meant by that. "You're gonna be careful?" he asked anxiously and she nodded. "Okay. Don't let Parker find out, though."

Sylvia sighed, knowing he was right, especially if Lyla was to be trusted with the whole Parker-having-a-crush-on-her thing. "Yeah," she agreed. "If anybody asks, I'm just out patrolling, all right? I'll be back by dawn, I promise."

James sat up and hugged her tightly. Sylvia was surprised by the gesture, but hugged him back, kissing his forehead gently. "I love you, sis," James whispered in her ear. "Okay? I know that we haven't said it a whole lot lately, so just so you know, I love you."

"I know, kid." Sylvia hugged him as tightly as he was holding her. "But I'm not going to die tonight, Jamie."

Her brother smiled faintly as he lay back down. "Just making sure that you knew," he told her quietly. "Doesn't seem like we say it a whole lot anymore, with the war going on."

"Yeah," Sylvia sighed, looking down at her brother for a full minute. "I love you too, James. You're my baby brother and you always will be." She caressed his hair for a minute before getting to her feet and heading towards the secret entrance.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Prue stood behind her, a harsh look crossing her face as she looked at Sylvia. It was so hard to believe that this angry, cold, unfeeling young witch was once the carefree, happy eldest daughter of Phoebe Halliwell. She had changed so much over the past five years. But then again, they all had.

"You're not thinking of going out patrolling, are you?" Prue demanded, glaring at her. "Roxanne died this morning, we have to relocate for the second time in less than six months, and now you're off to go hunting for demons? I swear, you have got no business to be leading the resistance, Chandler. Why you even bothered starting this whole thing is beyond me. You wouldn't even strike down my cousin if you got the chance."

Sylvia wasn't sure what made her snap. Perhaps it was the comment about Chris. "You know what, Prue? I am really sick and tired of this attitude coming from you. Who do you think you are, giving me all this grief about not being able to lead the resistance? Where were you when everything started to go to chaos? Where were you when Chris started falling apart? Where were you when Wyatt was ready to scoop up Chris, broken and vulnerable? I'll tell you," she said angrily, not bothering to wait for an answer. "You were too busy picking demons off one by one to even bother to look what was happening to your family. Your mom couldn't even be bothered to help with her nephews because she was too busy trying to keep you from destroying yourself. So you want to talk about who has no business being here? I can tell you now, Prudence," she added softly, "if it came down to you or Chris, you haven't given me any reason to pick you."

Prue's mouth opened slightly as she gaped at her. "You'd pick the younger brother of the Source . . . over a member of the resistance?"

"Like I said," Sylvia said quietly, "you haven't given me much reason to want to pick _you_. It hasn't changed over the past five years, Prue. You're still the vindictive witch who kills demons mercilessly. As far as I'm concerned, you're not much better than them."

Without another word, Sylvia dropped down into the tunnel, leaving a shocked and disbelieving Prue behind her. If only she could have known how much she was going to change by saying that to Prue . . . if only she could have known that she would gain her best friend by her actions that night . . . but lose an ally.

--

There was no moon tonight; the streets were dark and quiet as the young telepath hurried through them, an athame in her hands in case of a sneak attack. Usually, she appreciated the moonlight streaming through, lighting her way, but tonight it provided a sense of security. It hid the secrets that she was about to have, hid the two young witches that were meeting together that had no business to be seen together.

Sylvia slowed to a stop as she saw Chris sitting alone in the park, his expression unreadable. His eyes were closed as she approached, but they opened as he turned around to face her. "I could sense you coming," he said softly as he took her hand. She slipped her fingers into his, closing her eyes. "Where to?"

"Will he be able to sense you orbing?" Sylvia asked, uncertain. She had no idea what kind of parlour tricks Wyatt had learned in the past five years of being the Source. She knew what he was capable of, his powers, but as to what extent their brotherly connection was, she had no idea.

Chris shook his head. "Nope, we'll be safe," he answered. "Come on." Sylvia concentrated and formed the picture of the safe house in his mind, showing him where to go to. He shivered as he caught the image and nodded. "All right, hang on."

It was such an odd sensation, to be involuntarily orbing after so many years of becoming unaccustomed to it. Sylvia tightened her hold on him as he orbed her away, leaving no sign as to where they had been. Chris was grinning as they arrived safely in the safe house, amused.

"You know, you once loved orbing," he commented as she walked away from him, shaking off the aftermath of the orbing. Sylvia glared at him as she headed to the refrigerator, plucking two bottles of water out of it, tossing one of them to him.

"Yeah, well, you used to tell me the truth about stuff and talk to me," she countered. "Things change." Chris smiled faintly as she sat down at the counter and he joined her. "Chris, we really need to talk about what's going to happen here. I mean, this thing . . ." She sighed. "How long is this gonna go on? How long before we're going to have to choose sides again?"

"You're asking me if I would abandon my brother?" Chris asked harshly and she sighed. He looked away. "I can't answer that, Syl. Honestly, I know this is wrong, but I can't stop it. Anyway," he added, "I deserve to live like this, knowing that I'm a monster and should be put down. Knowing that my own family hates me, that people loath me . . . I deserve it, because—"

"For goodness sake, you didn't kill Piper!" Sylvia stood up, facing him determinedly. "Listen to me, Chris, you didn't kill her. I promise you, that's not what happened. Do you trust me?"

"With my life," Chris answered almost immediately. His face paled when he realised what he'd said and looked away. Sylvia felt her heart quicken as she heard his words, but forced herself to stay calm. This was no time for romantics; this was a salvage mission.

But perhaps that was the way to save him, to tear him away from the grip of evil. "Chris, you didn't kill Piper. You couldn't have. I want you to listen to me very carefully," she added softly, turning his head to face hers. His green eyes were pained, troubled, and uncertain. "I remember that day so clearly. Every detail, every moment . . . Chris, can you honestly tell me that you can remember everything, right down to every gesture that was made, every step that was taken?"

He sighed, looking down at his hands. "No," he admitted, pulling them away from hers. "But you know, your memory's not perfect, Syl. Maybe . . . maybe you're just remembering what you want to remember and not how things actually were. Maybe you're the one who's being misled."

"Or maybe a certain big brother of yours is manipulating your memories," Sylvia countered. Chris opened his mouth, but she cut across him. "I'm not gonna pretend that I understand why he's doing this, Chris. Truthfully, I can't. But I know something happened that day, something that neither one of us can understand or remember. So maybe the real reason why you remember a different version of things . . . is because you saw something that Wyatt doesn't want you to remember."

"Like what?"

Sylvia shook her head, placing her head into her hands. "I don't know," she admitted. "But what I do know is that he had already turned before Piper died. I don't know how we missed it, but he'd been acting strange for months. We both know that." Chris sighed and nodded mutely. "I'm not gonna force the memory out of your mind, Chris, not without your permission. But one day, I hope you can find out the truth. For both of our sakes," she added quietly. "I've lived for five years without my best friend, losing him to the side of evil. Don't you understand how that made me feel, Chris? I felt like I lost a part of myself, like I was so alone in the world." She shook her head, tears springing into her eyes. "I needed you and you weren't there."

Chris stared at her and slowly took her hands into his, making her look up at him. "So tell me," he said finally. "Tell me what's been going on with you."

So she did.

They talked for hours about what had been happening for the past five years, ever since Piper had died. A lot of stuff he already knew, about her mother being a casualty of one of the attacks, her becoming The Ambassador, leading the resistance against them. But he hadn't known that Eric had left her and James alone, leaving them for their father. He hadn't known that she was forced to raise her brother alone, with no support from her father.

"How did we get to this?" Chris asked quietly. They had moved from the kitchen to the living room and he was holding her gently in his arms, stroking her blonde hair affectionately. Sylvia was lying her head on his chest, feeling safer than she had in the longest time. For the time being, she was able to unwind, feel relaxed, safe, and loved.

"You joined up with your brother to form an evil empire and have demons obeying your every whim," Sylvia answered with a sigh. Chris chuckled slightly as she looked up at the window. "It's gonna be light soon."

"We still have a few more minutes before we have to leave," Chris answered, pressing his head onto hers. "Sylvia, there's so many things that I want to say to you . . . but most of all, I'm sorry. I should've been there to help you. The one time _you_ needed _me_ and I wasn't there." He shook his head. "I'll ask for your forgiveness one day, when I've earned it."

"You're earning it right now," Sylvia answered as she slowly pushed herself up so she could look at him. "Chris, you really need to get out of there. Before he destroys what good is left in you, please."

"He can't." Chris sat up and looked at her firmly. "So long as you are safe, Sylvia, as long as I know that you're okay, he'll never destroy me. He couldn't, because I'll do anything for you. If you want me to leave, then just say the word. I'll come with you, but the resistance would kill me without a second though. You know it. I know it. Wyatt knows it."

Her shoulders fell in despair, realising that he was right. After Prue had basically done anything to hunt down demons, including killing innocents and witches, few had been willing to accept her in the resistance. "There's got to be a way," she whispered. "I can't lose you a second time, Chris. I—"

_Sylvia! _

With a gasp, Sylvia almost fell off the couch and would have, if Chris hadn't caught her. "Oh, gods," she breathed.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, looking alarmed.

"It's Patty," she whispered. "Patty's in trouble."


	9. Two Halliwell Deaths

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Nine: Two Halliwell Deaths

Getting to Ireland was the easy part, thanks to Chris. He didn't object, didn't protest, all he did was take her hand and orb them both to where she instructed him to. Even though he didn't say so, Sylvia knew without using her telepathy that he was just as scared for his cousin as she was. If Patty was contacting her using telepathy, then there had to be danger. But the easy part wasn't finding them. It was what happened there once they got there.

The small cottage that Patty was hiding out at with her boyfriend Simon was half-destroyed. Sylvia froze the moment that she saw it, staring at it in shock, barely hearing the curse that Chris muttered. Without thinking, she raced ahead, almost plunging into the cottage as a demon suddenly tackled her from sideways.

"I don't think so, witch," he snapped as he pinned her down. Sylvia struggled to break free, but stopped when she saw Chris grab a knife from his boot, approaching them from behind. "You gonna scream for me? Oh, Lord Christopher," he added, spotting Chris. "I was just about to—"

He shrieked as the knife was plunged into his back, demolishing him into nothing. Sylvia moved out of the way just in time and Chris reached out his hand to help her to her feet. "Thanks," she said, accepting his help. He nodded as he looked at the cottage, his face paler than usual. "We should probably stick together, huh?"

"Yeah," Chris muttered quietly. "He's not here, though. Long gone by now." There was no need for him to establish which 'he' that he meant. His brother's presence was no longer in the cottage, though he had been here probably hours before they'd arrived. Death and destruction lay inside the cottage; Sylvia could sense it.

"Why was Patty here?"

Sylvia closed her eyes before looking at Chris. "She was staying here for the remainder of her pregnancy," she answered. There was no need for secrets now; one way or another, the secret was out. "Oh, gods, if something happened to Patty or the baby . . ."

"Sylvia, don't do this to yourself," Chris told her, wrapping an arm around her and holding her tightly. "You can't be held responsible for everything that goes wrong."

"I'm the Ambassador," Sylvia said shortly. "Chris, it's my job to take care of the people who are fighting against Wyatt, helping for the cause. Fighting for _me_. First Roxanne yesterday, now Patty?"

"We don't know that she's dead," Chris said shortly, grabbing her hand as they walked into the house. Almost instantly, the stench of blood and decaying bodies met her nostrils. Sylvia blinked at the dark room and reached for the light, flipping it on.

She wished that she hadn't. Across the room, there was blood everywhere, soaking everything from the tablecloth to the books on the table. Demon guts were on the ceiling and on the walls. Sylvia tore her gaze from the table as she saw a figure lying motionless on the floor.

"Oh, gods, Simon," she said quickly, hurrying to him.

Simon Lawrence was a witch who had the ability to talk to animals and create light. His parents had been mortals and afraid of their son's magic, they abandoned him, leaving him to grow up in foster care. When his foster parents had been killed by demons, Simon was left to live in the streets. Sylvia had rescued him from being captured and he had joined the resistance in the early days, one of the first recruits. He and Patty had met there and fallen in love, which ultimately led to the pregnancy.

Chris hurried to her side as she checked Simon's pulse, stroking his brown hair affectionately. "No," she whispered, staring down at him as she fell back on her knees. "No . . ." _Not Simon!_ she thought in horror. She had loved Simon; he was like a brother to her and he had pretty much felt the same way about her. "This is all my fault . . ."

"No, it's not!" Chris took her shoulders and forced her to look at her. "It's not your fault. As soon as you knew something was wrong, we came here. You couldn't have done anything more." Sylvia shook her head as she looked at Simon's still body.

"I'm gonna go find Patty," she said shortly. "If she's still here, anyway." She didn't want to think about the possibility of her being captured. Along with losing Simon, the thought of Patty being captured with the baby was unbearable. Sylvia wasn't sure what she preferred; Patty captured or dead. Both ideas broke her heart.

"Let's go," Chris said gently as she stood up and they walked from the room. They searched every room in the house. Thankfully, it was empty by now, the demons long gone. But it wasn't until they reached the baby's room that they finally found her.

Patty's body was burnt almost beyond recognition. The only way that Sylvia realised that it was her was by the golden locket that Paige had given her daughter on her thirteenth birthday, just as she had Sam. Until recently, it didn't have any pictures in it. After she met Simon, Patty put a picture of the two of them in it, saying that this way, they were forever close to her heart.

Chris was crying by now as they held on to each other, both of them mourning the loss of Patty. She had been a true friend, cousin, and sister, always looking out for someone else. And now she was gone, along with the man that she loved, and their child . . . their child . . .

"Could the baby have survived?" Sylvia whispered. Chris shook his head, not knowing the answer any more than she did, and she looked back at Patty, pulling away from Chris and heading out of the room, walking across the hall to Patty and Simon's room, stepping next to the hologram projector.

"Syl, what are you doing?" Chris had followed her and was watching her with confusion as she fiddled with the machine. "Listen, we need to get out of here, in case they come back. They'll be expecting you to stage a rescue mission. Will you—"

"What does the resistance fight for?" a voice from the machine asked as Sylvia finally managed to get it running. She let out a slow breath.

"Hope," she answered softly, feeling Chris's gaze on her. It was the one thing that had always managed to get them out of bed in the morning, that gave their lives some meaning.

The image was blurry, but Patty's voice rang through clear. "I haven't got much time," she said as her cousin and friend stood next to each other. "Sylvia, if you're listening to this, Wyatt found us. He's attacking the barrier and it's not going to be much longer before he gets through. My only relief is that earlier today, I have birth to my beautiful baby boy. It was only minutes before we heard them attacking and were forced to hide him. Sylvia, it's up to you know to keep him safe. I love my brother, but Parker is too distraught over Sam to keep a child safe. So that duty now lies to you, dear friend, and I know you'll raise him to be a strong man."

Sylvia felt tears running down her cheeks as she listened to Patty. There had been so many things she'd wanted to say to her, but it was too late now. She would never hear them.

"Simon created a secret hiding place underneath the kitchen," Patty told them. "He knew that there was always a chance that we would be discovered. When we heard them attacking, we cast every silencing and concealing spell that we could on the place before we hid our son there.

"Tell him that I love him every day and that his father and I died trying to protect him, to give him a better world to grow up in. Sylvia, the hardest part about living in this world is trying to find someone that you love. And you found that a long time ago. Chris loves you," she said. "And you love him, so it's time that you both started realising that." Sylvia felt her face burning up and Chris cleared his throat. "You have got to save him, Sylvia, because you're the only one who can. Love is the answer and you can help him. Keep my son safe and save my cousin . . . for me." Her hologram came in clearly for a minute and she was smiling. "Sylvia . . . it was Prue. She was the one who betrayed us. She—"

Without warning, something fired from behind them and Chris tackled Sylvia to the side as the hologram was hit and it shut off.

"Patty always did talk too much," Prue commented.

Sylvia scrambled to her feet as she stared at Phoebe's eldest daughter in shock and horror. Chris stood up, his green eyes expressionless as he stood right next to her, looking at his cousin. "Good gods, Prue, what did you do?" he demanded, anger in his voice.

"You're asking me that?" Prue snorted, shaking her head. "You, Chris, who haven't been very benevolent these past few years? Honestly, you should have picked up on it, Sylvia. And I'm interested in this," she added, gesturing towards the two of them. "Second-in-command to the Source and The Ambassador sneaking around together? This ought to be interesting."

"Leave her out of this!" Chris said warningly, pushing Sylvia behind him. Prue shook her head. "If you even dare tell Wyatt about this . . ."

"You're gonna what? Kill me?" Prue smirked. "Killing your own cousin, Chris . . . my, how the mighty hath fallen. It's just as well . . . Wyatt knows you've been slipping away. He can sense your anxiety, your morality returning . . . started just a few weeks ago. I guess he realised that you'd met up with the love of your life again." Sylvia stared at Prue, then shifted her gaze to Chris, who was shaking with rage.

"If you even dare hurt her . . ."

"Please, you're not going to hurt me, Christopher, we both know that," she scoffed. "You've just got too much integrity left in you."

"I never should have let you into the resistance," Sylvia said quietly. "I should have listened to your aunt. Paige was right about you." Prue's eyes narrowed slightly. "All the same, I've got the feeling that you're about to get what's coming to you."

"As will you, Ambassador," Prue countered. Her dark eyes were glinting dangerously. "You know . . . I don't have to kill you in order to destroy the two of you. And I'll have you know that everybody's under orders to bring you in alive, Sylvia. So the way that I see it, you're gonna come quietly, unless you want your boyfriend to suffer eternal torment."

"He's not—" Sylvia shook her head. Whether or not Chris was her boyfriend wasn't the point. She really couldn't believe that Prue had betrayed them. Wait, scratch that thought, she could believe it. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Then I guess this is a high point for me." Prue grinned, her dark eyes suddenly going cold. Chris slipped his hand into Sylvia's, looking pale. "After five years of suffering under your rule, I get to strike out on my own."

"Are we really going to do this?" Sylvia sensed a presence in the house, but couldn't tell whether or not it was a demon or one of Wyatt's witches or a rebel. Every particle of her being prayed that it was going to be one of hers, because she didn't know how to fight Prue. If Wyatt had recruited her, then he more than likely had infused her with demonic powers, which meant that she had no idea what she was up against here.

"Oh, are we feeling a little bit bad, now?" Prue shook her head. "Don't worry, Sylvia, we can pull a Romeo and Juliet here and have you two die together. I have enough compassion for the two of you to grant that wish. Of course, that would put a damper on Wyatt's plans."

"Plans?" Chris echoed. "What plans?"

Sylvia glanced at him quickly; what plans could Wyatt have that even Chris, his own brother and deputy, didn't even know about? "What plans, Prue?" she asked when his cousin didn't reply.

"You still haven't figured it out, have you?" she replied. "Why Wyatt's kept you alive all these years? Nothing's going to change, Sylvia. You could kill every one of Wyatt's demons, it's not going to change anything. He's still going to come after you, until you die or give in. And he will get what he wants, in the end, even if he has to do it by force."

"And what is that he wants?" Sylvia countered.

Prue's smirk broadened. "You," she answered. "Right next to him on the throne. I hate to be the one to mess up your little affair with Christopher here, but you're going to become Wyatt's queen, whether you want to or not. So let's stop playing games and just—"

Sylvia jumped as she heard the sound of something crashing with bone. Prue's eyes widened as she crumpled, unconscious before she hit the ground, and Chris hurried over to his cousin, checking her pulse as James threw a piece of wood to the ground, leaning against the doorframe.

"James!" Sylvia hurried over to her brother, pulling him against her and he clung to her, taking deep breaths. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't come back," James answered shakily, staring at Prue's prone body. "Sylvia, you said you were going come back before dawn . . . I thought that something . . . that you . . ."

Sylvia understood and allowed him to bury his head into her shoulder, shaking visibly. "It's okay, little brother," she whispered. "I'm here. I didn't leave you, Jamie. I'll never leave you. I just knew something had happened to Patty. Don't worry, I'm never gonna abandon you. Shh, it's okay, everything's going to be okay."

"I don't think so," Chris said quietly. Sylvia looked at him and saw that his fingers were covered in blood. He was looking at the siblings with honest shock in his eyes. "She's dead."


	10. Annihilation

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Ten: Annihilation

Patty's son was beautiful when Sylvia found him, right where she had told her where he would be, lying so silent and peaceful in his sleep as she carried him up into the cottage, where Chris was sitting with James, talking to him quietly. The two men she cared about most looked up as she entered, carrying the baby.

Chris stood up and walked over to her as she looked towards James worriedly. "How is he?" she whispered. The fact that her baby brother had taken Prue's life shocked her immensely. She wasn't sure how he was gonna handle it, if he even could. But she understood why he had done it. There had been no other option.

"Well, he's distraught, obviously," Chris said in an undertone. "Hasn't said a word since it happened." Sylvia nodded. "He's tasted his first blood, Syl. It's not gonna be easy on him."

"I know." Sylvia looked down at the baby that she was holding and Chris's gaze dropped down, staring at the child in awe. "Do you want to hold your cousin?"

Chris's green eyes were filled with a contentment that she hadn't seen since his mother had died as he took the baby into his arms, staring down at the only thing that was left of his cousin. Sylvia walked over to James and sat down next to him.

James was sitting curled up on the couch, staring at his knees as she sat down next to him. "Jamie?" she asked gently and he didn't respond. "Jamie, listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong. Prue was going to hurt us and you did the only thing that you could have done. You protected us. There isn't anybody who's going to blame you for it."

"I've got blood on my hands, Sylvia," James whispered. He was staring at them. "Blood from somebody I cared about." Sylvia nodded slowly as she looked towards Chris as he sat down with the baby.

"Yeah, baby bro, I know," she said gently. "And it's not gonna get any easier, all right? Taking somebody's life . . . it's good that you feel remorse, that you're sorry that it happened, Jamie. Because that means that you're not like them. It means that you're still good."

James slowly lifted his head to look at her. "It does?" he asked slowly, looking around at Chris. "Does it?"

Chris smiled faintly. "Yeah, it does," he agreed. "Listen to your sister, James. She's usually right. Besides," he added with a sigh, "I think she's probably the only one doing anything right around here." Sylvia glanced at him as he stared down at Patty's little boy.

Sylvia wrapped her arm around her brother and he snuggled closer to her, laying his head onto her chest. "What are we gonna do?" she asked with a sigh. "I can't take the baby back to headquarters; it's not safe there. It's no place to raise a child."

"This future isn't a place to raise a child," Chris said shortly as he shifted the baby in his arms. "But you're right; if Wyatt ever found out that Patty had a child that survived . . . he'd never give up."

The answer was simple; they had to take the baby someplace where he couldn't be found by his lunatic, power-hungry cousin. But if they could track Patty all the way here, in Ireland, then where would the baby be safe at? Where could they send him?

"What about Dad's?" James asked quietly. They looked at him. "Dad could find a place for him."

"It's too risky, showing up at Dad's with a baby," Sylvia said shortly, running her hands through her blonde hair. "Besides, I'm not so sure that he _isn't_ working for Wyatt." She didn't meet Chris's gaze as he looked at her. "Anyway, I think it would be better if we sent him someplace that wouldn't be associated with us, something less conspicuous."

Chris sat up slowly, an idea appearing in his eyes. "I know a place," he said softly. "Wyatt doesn't even know about it. You remember Tom Fletcher, from school?" he asked. Sylvia nodded. "Well, his parents moved him away from California a couple years back, to get away from all this. Moved as far as they could without leaving the country. There's a little town down in Florida that they live at. Tom married a couple years ago and they've been looking to adopt a little boy."

"You'd think that he'd take the baby in?" Sylvia asked as she held her brother tightly. Chris hesitated, but nodded. "What?"

"I'm just . . . not sure that he's gonna listen to me," Chris said finally. "It's not like Prue wasn't telling the truth up there, Syl. I'm not the most benevolent guy around."

"We're all going," Sylvia said shortly. "And if he doesn't listen to you, then he'll listen to me."

"What about Prue?" James asked in a quiet voice. "She'll have told Wyatt where we're at, Sylvia." His blue eyes were wide and afraid. "They're gonna be in danger." The thought had not occurred to Sylvia and she looked towards Chris frantically, whose green eyes had gone wide.

Standing up quickly, Sylvia reached out for Chris's hand. "Orb, fast!" she ordered, still holding on to her brother. Needing no more encouragement, Chris orbed them out, straight to the rebel headquarters.

--

Headquarters was in ruins when they arrived, only the bare foundation of the old house remaining. Sylvia stared around at the corpses as she moved through the house, unable to breathe, unable to feel, unable to think. Chris was watching her; she could sense his gaze, but didn't say anything. She had sent James and the baby away, to the safe house, until they could find out if anybody was still alive or if the demons were still there. But it seemed nobody had been spared. Even the younger witches that were there had been slaughtered.

"Parker," Chris suddenly spoke and she looked around at her best friend, seeing him kneel next to her deputy. She hurried over to him and Chris looked relieved as he removed his fingers from Parker's pulse. "He's alive. I think he's gonna be okay."

"Stay with him," Sylvia instructed, standing up. "I'm gonna go see if there's anybody else alive." Chris nodded as she moved up the staircase, checking the bodies she passed, but each was as dead as the last. Some she recognised, others had been too badly mutilated to identify. Sylvia felt as though she were going to be sick.

This was her fault. If she hadn't spoken so harshly to Prue the night before, then perhaps she wouldn't have gone to Wyatt and turned against them. Perhaps all of these innocent people would still be alive. They wouldn't have their lives taken away for her temper. Sylvia felt tears springing to her eyes as she picked up a sword to defend herself if needed.

Almost the second that she touched it, somebody knocked it from her hands. Sylvia spun around and tackled the intruder onto the ground, pinning her arms against the floor as brown eyes stared up at her in surprise. "Sylvia?" Lyla gasped in relief.

"Lyla!" Sylvia pulled up off of her and hugged her tightly, startling the redheaded witch. "Thank the gods you're alive!" Her friend was even paler than usual and she had several gashes on her face, not to mention, she was holding herself painfully, making Sylvia guess that she had several broken ribs. "What happened, anyway?"

"They attacked us," Lyla muttered. "It was an enormous army, coming to wipe all of us out . . . there was no prisoners taken. He didn't want anybody imprisoned . . . he wanted all of us destroyed. I don't know if anybody else is still alive . . ."

"Parker is," Sylvia said shortly. "He's downstairs, still unconscious, but he'll be all right. I hope, anyway," she added softly. She shook her head as she helped Lyla stand up. The redheaded witch winced painfully. "Can you help me look for any more survivors?"

Lyla nodded as she walked with Sylvia. "How'd they find us?" she asked worriedly. "How'd they know where we were at? Did—did they follow us from the old headquarters?"

"No." Sylvia's face was grim as she looked towards Lyla. "It was Prue; she betrayed us." Lila's mouth opened slightly before she closed it, her brown eyes filled with anger and fury. "I suppose it was my fault; I shouldn't have spoken to her so sharply and said that she was no better than Wyatt."

"It's not your fault," Lyla countered. Sylvia snorted disbelievingly. "It's not! Look, Sylvia, you may be the Ambassador, but that doesn't mean that you have to be held responsible for every little thing that happens! You're a living, breathing human being and while you are the head of the resistance, you don't control us. We all knew what we signed up for and you can't blame yourself for the people who died here. And you can't blame yourself for Prue. Speaking angrily to a friend is just something that you need to apologise for, it doesn't mean you're responsible for sending them out to betray you to the enemy. That was Prue's decision and she alone is responsible for it."

Sylvia looked at her. "You really think so?" she asked with a smile towards the redheaded witch.

"Hey, you're the brains behind this operation," Lyla said with a grin. "I'm just one of the weapons. I don't think, okay?" Sylvia chuckled as the reached the last floor. "I haven't seen James, though . . ."

"He's okay," Sylvia replied. "He came after me this morning when I didn't come home from patrolling. I sent him to the safe house when we realised what had happened."

"What safe house?"

"It's just a small house that I keep for James and me, in case we need someplace safe to go," Sylvia said with a shrug. "Small cottage some ways away from here."

Lyla nodded slowly as they continued to check the bodies, but so far, they hadn't found any survivors. "Prudence Halliwell, I don't believe it," she said with a sigh. "I mean, I know she was bad-tempered, I roomed with her and all that, but seriously, she was the last person I expected to betray us. What are we going to do about her?"

"We don't need to worry about her," Sylvia said shortly as she looked away, brushing a hand through her blonde hair. Lyla looked around her, a worried look crossing her face. "Prue's dead." An astonished look crossed her face as she heard this.

"Did you . . .?"

"It doesn't matter who did it, Lyla," Sylvia said shortly. James was barely handling the situation himself; there was no need for anybody to know that it was him. "All that matters is that she's dead."

Almost at that same second, they heard the sound of warfare coming from downstairs. Both girls moved as one, racing for the staircase and hurrying down the stairs to find Parker and Chris going at it, Parker's face filled with plain fury.

"You did this!" he was yelling at Chris, who wasn't making any moves to strike his cousin. "You and Wyatt did all of this! You killed them!"

"Parker, enough!" Sylvia seized him from behind and Parker struggled against her, trying to free himself, but she moved into his mind, sending gentle, calming thoughts. Parker took deep breaths as he slowly calmed down. "It's okay, he's on our side."

"On ours?" Lyla gave Chris a curious look as he pushed himself up off the ground, looking at his cousin and best friend.

Her brown eyes narrowed as she returned her gaze to Sylvia before back again, an understanding look crossing it and she made no further comment as Parker finally stopped fighting Sylvia and she let go of him. The four of them remained quiet as they looked around at their surroundings.

Sylvia broke off away from the group, staring around at the dead bodies around her. "Did you see anybody get away, Park?" she asked softly, not looking at any of them.

"Some of them might have escaped into the sewers," Parker responded immediately. "But the only person who knows the sewers better than the demons is you, Sylvia. They're bound to get captured or killed." She nodded mutely. "It's just us now."

"Just like before," Sylvia said softly, remembering when she had first started the resistance.

Parker was silent as she looked at them again. "It was Prue, wasn't it?" he asked and she nodded. "I knew it . . . she left last night and there was something off about her . . . I could sense it."

"It's not your fault," Sylvia responded. "She's dead, though . . ." Parker's eyes went wide. "Don't ask me who did it, though. I'm not going to tell you. But Patty and Simon are gone, too."

"The baby?"

"Safe," Sylvia answered as she locked eyes with Chris. He smiled in understanding. "He's safe. Where is unimportant."

Lyla looked around at them. "What are we going to do?"

Sylvia took a deep breath as she walked back over to her three friends. "Rebuild," she answered.


	11. Faces From the Past

**Dark Destiny**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Eleven: Faces From the Past

Sylvia stepped through the quiet and dead streets of San Francisco as she patrolled the streets, looking for any demons that were straying through, looking for the remaining members of the resistance. Her blonde hair bounced off of her shoulder as she cast a glance behind her, a crossbow held at the ready, stepping around the corner.

Hearing a noise behind her, Sylvia stopped, glancing behind her to see nobody there, but that didn't mean that there wasn't somebody following her. Returning her attention to the streets, Sylvia quickened her pace to draw the person out of hiding, so that she could find out who and what they wanted. Of course, at the moment, orders from Wyatt were to take her dead or alive, but she didn't know if the person was working for Wyatt or not.

The person was close enough now, within firing range, and she whirled around, pointing the crossbow directly at . . .

"Sylvia, don't shoot!" Chris exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender. She released a soft sigh of exasperation as she lowered the weapon. "Sorry. Jeez, you scared me half to death."

"I scared you?" Sylvia exclaimed, glaring at him. "Who was it being Mr. Stealthy Guy?" Chris made a face at her, but grinned as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, what's going on down in the darker part of town? Heard anything good?"

"Well, mostly Wyatt's angry that he didn't manage to capture you in his assault on the resistance. Which, of course, means that he's been killing some of his demons left and right due to his frustration. I think he killed more in the past week than you guys have killed in the past five years."

"That's not a comforting thought." Sylvia shook her head as she peered around the corner. "Think we're alone?"

"Don't worry," Chris assured her. "I can sense one of the demons approaching from a mile off. We'll be safe for awhile." He looked at her for a long moment and reached out, pushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face as she looked up at him. "So, how are you?"

Sylvia looked up at him, into his green eyes and just like every other time, she felt as though pure, absolute bliss was washing over her, taking her to a place that was brighter and purer than this one. "I'm still alive," she said finally. "Nerves are still high strung, though." Slipping her crossbow on the sling on her side, she crossed her arms and took a step away from him. "Chris, are you sure that this is safe?"

"I told you, I can sense—"

Sylvia shook her head. "I don't mean _this_," she said, pointing between the two of them. "I mean you being at Wyatt's undercover. You're closer to him than anyone. If he found out that you were spying on him for us . . ." She trailed off as Chris walked over, sitting down next to her. "He'd kill you."

"He wouldn't," Chris assured her, wrapping an arm around her. "Sylvia, I know that you don't have the best impression of Wyatt and honestly, how can you? But he's still my brother and I know that somewhere deep inside is the son that Mom raised."

With a sigh, Sylvia rested her head onto his shoulder. "I think that Wyatt was long gone before Piper died," she said quietly, looking up at him. Chris chose to say nothing to this statement. "So, meeting tonight? We'll go over the stage of attack then?"

"I'll be there," Chris promised as he stood up. "I should go. He'll start wondering where I am."

"Right," Sylvia muttered as she stood up. "I should get back to patrolling anyway." Chris nodded once as he started to orb away. "Chris?" He re-materialised, looking expectantly at him. "Be careful, all right? I've lost enough friends this week."

"I'll be careful," he promised her, giving her a kiss on the forehead before he dematerialised, leaving her standing alone in the alleyway. Sylvia sighed as she stared where he'd been.

"I love you, Chris," she whispered softly as she walked away, pulling her crossbow out as she ventured out into the street again. There were still a couple demon nests that she wanted to check out before dawn. And anyway, Lyla had gotten a hint from a demon hunter they'd met that they'd been discovered at their new hiding place and were gonna relocate as soon as they could. Parker had hinted that Chris was the reason why they'd been discovered, but Lyla's fist pretty much shut him up.

Sylvia was glad that someone on her team understood her friendship with Chris and her need to save him from the darkness, but she knew that Lyla was just as wary of her friendship with Chris as Parker was. She just chose to trust Sylvia's judgement.

As she stepped onto the street where they had launched the attack on the resistance while she was in Ireland, Sylvia stared up at it for awhile. If she had done things different, would so many who had died be alive? Would the friends she had made, the allies that had fought alongside her, be with her now, to continue the fight? Would any of them understand that she had to save the son of the eldest Charmed One?

"You've done a good job."

Sylvia whirled around to point the crossbow at the apparition that was standing behind her. The woman was _very_ familiar, with her long brown hair and calm brown eyes that could look into her soul. With a smile, the woman stepped sideways, into the shadows and the glow around her became brighter and she came into focus.

"Piper?" Sylvia whispered in shock. The eldest Charmed One smiled at her as she took an unsteady step towards her, lowering her weapon as she stared at her. "Is it you?"

"It's me," Piper assured her as she reached out and touched Sylvia's cheek tenderly. The telepath closed her eyes slightly, the shock and disbelief nearly overwhelming her. "Sylvia, don't be afraid. It's me, I promise." She reached out and rested her hand just above Sylvia's arm. Being a ghost, she couldn't physically touch the young telepathic witch. "My dear, sweet girl . . . you've been so brave."

"I don't know about that," Sylvia admitted, still unable to believe that she was having a conversation with Chris's long-dead mother. "I haven't exactly been the best role-model lately."

"You've done the best you could with the circumstances you had," Piper said kindly. "You've tried to keep your family together, even after your mother died. Raised James almost on your own for nearly five years, created the resistance, fought your own best friend and his brother . . . trust me, sweetie, you've been braver than you can possibly imagine. I couldn't be prouder of my own daughter."

It was that statement that made Sylvia break down into sobs as she sank down onto the porch of an abandoned, half-demolished house. Piper smiled gently at her as she sat down next to the still-living witch. "Why did this have to happen?" she whispered. "Why did this happen, Piper?"

"Oh, sweetheart," Piper sighed. "There are things about this that I don't understand and could never have. You think I want to see my boys become the sources of all evil? I don't. Although, you've done a pretty good job saving one of them," she added with a smile.

"He still needs time," Sylvia said quietly. "Even I don't understand why he did go with Wyatt. I know he believes that he's responsible for your dying, but I don't understand why Wyatt manipulated Chris's memories like that. It's almost like there's something that he's trying to hide."

"I can't answer that one, sweetie," Piper admitted. "You're gonna have to figure that one out in your own time." She sighed. "Your mom wanted to know how James is doing, with Prue and everything."

Sylvia looked up at Piper and sighed. "He's dealing," she admitted. "He's holding up. Barely."

"And you?"

"About the same." Sylvia looked at Piper. "I mean, everything is back to the way it was before the resistance started going. We've got basically four members, one spy, and a couple of sources that may or may not be on our side. We're totally screwed, Piper, and everyone knows that." She sighed. "It might be easier just to toss in the white towel now, before anybody else gets hurt. At least then, he might make our deaths less painful. If we went in now, he might not even kill us."

"You, he wouldn't," Piper acknowledged. "He'd just make you his queen, force you bear him heirs, kill your friends and your little brother, and then turn you into the perfect assailant for any witches who might still be tied to good. But James? Lyla? Parker? Even Chris? He wouldn't stop hurting them if you did turn yourselves in. The only way to survive is to keep fighting. The world needs you to keep fighting, Sylvia. Chris needs you to keep fighting," she added gently. "He's starting to get his faith back in fighting the good fight. Now is not the time for you to lose faith."

Sylvia smiled faintly. "I'm not," she said warily. "I'm just tired."

Piper nodded. "You haven't been sleeping well," she noted, seeing Sylvia's tired expression.

Looking up at Piper, Sylvia whispered, "The dreams are getting worse, Piper. Before all this happened . . . I used to have dreams of a dark and desolate future where we were fighting for our very survival. Now . . . I see something coming that's too terrible to describe. Something's about to happen, something terrible and big, but I don't know what."

"I know."

Her head shot up to stare at Piper. "You know?" she echoed. "What is it, Piper? What's coming?"

"Well, I don't have all the fine details, but what's left of the Elders know that something is headed our way and Wyatt is at the centre of it. There's bigger forces at work here than you know. All I can tell you is that you need to get Chris to remember what really happened that day, because he saw something of vital importance that day that could decide our future. Everything is going to change, Sylvia, and everyone is going to have to decide the path that they are going to take."

Sylvia shook her head, annoyed with Piper's cryptic-ness. "Okay, enough with the cryptic, please, and just tell me what's gonna happen," she demanded, giving Piper the evil eye.

"Can't do that, sweetie, sorry. But I can tell you that if you want to know what's going to happen, you're going to have to go directly to the source. There's a prophecy hidden in Wyatt's dominion. Chris will know where it is. The prophecy has the answers that you'll need."

"That's not a whole lot of help."

"I know, but it's all I can say. Unfortunately, I can't say much, because you've got to fight this battle without us." Piper reached towards her and for a minute, she turned corporeal, letting herself touch Sylvia's blonde hair. "You're the new hope for the future." She sighed as she looked into the distance. "And don't lose him, Sylvia. It's only going to bring you more heartache than you'll be able to take."

Sylvia shrugged, knowing she was talking about Chris. "I've dealt with it before," she replied.

"It'll be worse this time," Piper told her. "After getting him back, just barely, only to lose him, irreversibly, to evil again? If he goes back, then there is no saving him this time, Sylvia. Find the prophecy and prepare yourself. You and Chris have to be ready."

With a small sigh, Sylvia brushed her hand through her hair as she glanced up at Piper. "I know that you're going to say that you can't tell me, but what exactly should we be preparing for?" she inquired and Piper chuckled, smiling down at her.

"You'll know when you find the prophecy," she answered as she stood up. "The answers are all there. Of course, it might take a good translator to find the answers, because I think it might be in some dead demon language. I'm not really sure. The Elders weren't too specific. They're really annoying with that whole mystery thing, you know."

Sylvia could sense that their time was almost up. "Do you really have to go?" she asked. Piper smiled at her and nodded.

"I'm afraid so," she admitted. "I'll give your love to your mother, shall I?" Sylvia nodded, a lump starting to form in her throat. "Oh, and I'll be leaving you with a new ally, one that the Elders sent down to help you. And old friend, you might call him, but he's not who he used to be. You can come down now!" she called, looking skyward.

Sylvia looked up as white lights suddenly appeared in the street, revealing a young man around her own age with brown hair and gentle brown eyes that were looking directly at the telepath sadly. "Hi, Sylvia," he said softly, walking towards her and standing before her uncomfortably.

"Simon," she whispered, launching onto the young man whose death she felt responsible for and whom she had loved like a brother for five years. "Oh, gods, Simon . . . you're alive."

"Not exactly," he admitted, pulling away.

"What do you mean, not exactly?"

"It's like this," Piper told her as she stood before the two, "he's a Whitelighter now."


End file.
